Tunisia dismissed head coach Sabri Lamouchi on Monday after the team suffered a 5-1 defeat to Sweden in their opening match of the 2026 World Cup. The Tunisian Football Federation announced the decision on its Instagram account shortly after the game in Monterrey, Mexico.
Sabri Lamouchi took charge of the national team earlier in the year. Tunisia entered the tournament with high expectations but collapsed against a strong Swedish side.
Yasin Ayari scored early for Sweden, and stars Alexander Isak and Viktor Gyökeres powered the attack. Tunisia replied with a header from Omar Rekik, yet Sweden added further goals to secure a dominant victory.
After the match, Sabri Lamouchi described the result as painful. “It’s a difficult loss. It’s painful. Starting the competition with this bad of a loss is indeed difficult,” he said in the post-match news conference. He pointed to individual errors as the main issue.
“We made way too many mistakes,” Lamouchi added. He noted that Sweden’s world-class forwards proved too much for his defense. “With world-class players that we have in the two Swedish forwards, it’s something that you don’t recover from.”
The federation moved quickly. “An agreement has been officially reached to dismiss coach Sabri Lamouchi,” the statement read. Officials planned to appoint Mondher Kebaier as interim coach for the remaining group games.
Tunisia still must play Japan and the Netherlands in Group F. The heavy loss and coaching change added pressure on the squad. Sabri Lamouchi had urged his players to show pride and react positively before his departure. “We have our pride. We need to react. We need to give a better image,” he stated.
The sacking marked a dramatic early exit for the 54-year-old former France international from his World Cup role. Tunisia sought to regroup swiftly as the tournament continued.
