Tunisia sack head coach Sabri Lamouchi after one game at FIFA World Cup 2026 post 1-5 hammering to Sweden - Report
According to reports, Tunisia Football Federation has parted ways with head coach Sabri Lamouchi after the team's 1-5 loss to Sweden at the FIFA World Cup 2026.
Tunisia have sacked head coach Sabri Lamouchi just one game into the FIFA World Cup 2026 after the Eagles of Carthage suffered a 1- hammering during their campaign opener on Monday at the Monterrey Stadium in Guadalupe. However, an official comment is yet to come from the Tunisia Football Federation.
The news first came out after The Guardian and New York Times journalist Romain Molina broke the development on social media. It said that the decision to dismiss Lamouchi with immediate effect was taken in an Tunisia Football Federation (TFF) emergency meeting following the loss to Sweden.
"We have a problem with the coach," a TFF source was qouted as saying to ESPN. Lamouchi came on board in January after the exit of Sami Trabelsi, following Tunisia’s round-of-16 exit at the Africa Cup of Nations. The 54-year-old was under scrutiny ever since he came on.
Under Lamouchi, Tunisia started off with 1-0 win over Haiti before a goalless draw against Canada. Since then, Tunisia went downwards, losing to Austria, Belgium and Sweden. Overall, Lamouchi was in charge of just five games for Tunisia.
Not just the results of the national team, Tunisia's preparations for the FIFA World Cup 2026 were also rocked by some off-the-field issues. The preparations were disrupted by Lamouchi's son within the training cam, sonething that didn't go well with the TFF. In fact, Lamouchi was forced to explain his son's presence on several occasions.
What happened in Tunisia vs Sweden?
Tunisia endured a difficult outing, with several costly mistakes proving decisive. Goalkeeper Mouhib Chamakh was responsible for Sweden's opening goal in the 18th minute after misjudging a long clearance, while captain Ellyes Skhiri committed an error that led directly to Viktor Gyokeres's strike in the 59th minute.
In the match, Sweden's Yasin Ayari opened and completed the scoring, and substitute Mattias Svanberg also scored a goal. It was Alexander Isak and Gyokeres who consistently troubled Tunisia's back line throughout the match. For Tunisia, Rekik was the only name on the scoresheet.
Sabri Lamouchi calls loss to Sweden 'painful'
Earlier, Lamouchi called Tunisia's loss against Sweden "difficult" and "painful", according to Reuters. Speaking at the post-match press conference, Lamouchi expressed his disappointment with the result.
"It's a difficult loss. It's painful. Starting the competition with this bad of a loss is indeed difficult," Lamouchi said as quoted by Reuters. He rued the mistakes in the field committed by the team, saying, “We made way too many mistakes.”
Tunisia at FIFA World Cup 2026
After the loss to Sweden, Tunisia's path to knockouts of the FIFA World Cup 2026 become difficult. They next play Japan on June 20 before rounding off their Group F campaign against Netherlands on June 25.
Group F Points Table at FIFA World Cup 2026
| Team | Matches | Win | Draw | Loss | GD | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sweden | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 |
| Japan | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Netherlands | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tunisia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -4 | 0 |
Get all updates from FIFA World Cup 2026 here, along with FIFA World Cup 2026 Complete Schedule and FIFA World Cup 2026 Points Table.
Wait for it…
Oops! Looks like you have exceeded the limit to bookmark the image. Remove some to bookmark this image.