Tunisia has dismissed head coach Sabri Lamouchi following a heavy 5-1 defeat to Sweden in their opening match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The decision came after an emergency meeting of Tunisian football officials, who confirmed the termination of Lamouchi’s contract and named Mondher Kebaier as interim coach to lead the team through the remainder of the tournament.

The loss in their Group F fixture was Tunisia’s second heavy defeat in a short span, following a 5-0 pre-tournament friendly loss against Belgium. The Swedish side, managed by Graham Potter, secured their victory with goals from Viktor Gyokeres, Alexander Isak, Mattias Svanberg, and a brace by Yasin Ayari. The result leaves Tunisia at the bottom of Group F with a goal difference of minus four but still mathematically able to advance to the knockout stage, as eight of the twelve third-placed teams across groups will qualify.

Lamouchi, who took charge of Tunisia in mid-January and was previously the manager of Nottingham Forest, acknowledged the difficulty of the defeat after the match, describing it as “painful” and hard to accept. This marked just his fifth game in charge of the national team. Lamouchi also has a complex history with World Cup tournaments; he was left out of France’s 1998 World Cup squad despite their eventual triumph on home soil and resigned as Ivory Coast coach after their group stage exit in 2014.

The upcoming fixtures for Tunisia include matches against Japan on Saturday in Monterrey, Mexico, and the Netherlands the following Friday in Kansas City. Technical director Mondher Kebaier is set to oversee the team immediately, with under-23 coach Anis Boujelbene expected to join the squad, though his entry to the United States is delayed due to visa issues.

Tunisia’s mid-tournament managerial change echoes a rare but notable pattern in World Cup history. During the 1998 World Cup, Tunisia dismissed their coach Henryk Kasperczak after two losses, with Ali Selmi stepping in as caretaker for their final match. Similarly, South Korea’s coach Cha Bum-kun was replaced after two games in the same tournament. More recently, the Ivory Coast’s success in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations was attributed partly to a coaching change mid-competition when assistant Emerse Faé replaced Jean-Louis Gasset before the knockout stage.

As Tunisia seeks to recover in their remaining group matches, the new coaching staff will face the immediate challenge of stabilizing the team’s performance amid increasing pressure and scrutiny.