Tunisia sack boss Sabri Lamouchi after World Cup thrashing by Sweden

Tunisia coach Sabri Lamouchi pays the price for 5-1 football defeat to Sweden in Group F opener at World Cup 2026.Sabri Lamouchi has been sacked by Tunisia after just one game of World Cup 2026.The 54-year-old former France international was sacked the day after Tunisia’s 5-1 trouncing by Sweden in their opening Group F football game in Monterrey, Mexico, on Sunday night.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4‘Lion of Mesopotamia’: How Aymen Hussein beat tragedy to reach World Cuplist 2 of 4Uruguay squad lands in US after flight delay ahead of World Cup openerlist 3 of 4Yasin Ayari: Sweden’s breakout World Cup star of Tunisian-Moroccan heritagelist 4 of 4World Cup: Iranians in Los Angeles divided on whether to cheer or jeer Iranend of listTunisian officials have installed Mondher Kebaier, who led the national team from 2019 to 2022 and has been in a technical director role since last year, as interim boss ahead of the second group game against Japan in the early hours of Sunday, also in Monterrey.The 56-year-old previously guided the Eagles of Carthage to the final of the Arab Cup in 2021, losing to Algeria, before a quarterfinal exit in AFCON the following year.Speaking before his departure, Lamouchi said his side had been punished for a string of costly mistakes and after the game admitted: “It’s a difficult loss. It’s painful. Starting the competition with ⁠this bad of a loss is indeed difficult.“We made way too many mistakes.”Lamouchi was already under pressure after a 5-0 defeat to Belgium in the team’s final warm-up game, while he has been forced to defend the presence of his son during their training camp in the media despite him not being an official member of the party.Tunisia will face Japan and the Netherlands, who played out a pulsating 2-2 draw in their opening match in Dallas on Sunday, in ⁠their final two group fixtures, and Lamouchi said: “We have our pride. We need to react. We need to give a better image.”Lamouchi, who holds dual Tunisian and French citizenship, represented clubs including Auxerre, Monaco, Parma, Inter and Marseille during his playing career before his first role in management saw him guide Ivory Coast to the 2014 World Cup, beating Japan in their first game only to exit in the group stage after a dramatic late defeat against Greece in their final game.