Tunisia have reportedly fired head coach Sabri Lamouchi just one game into the 2026 FIFA World Cup, following a chaotic 5-1 defeat to Sweden and reports of fighting in the Tunisian camp.
According to journalist Romain Molina, the Tunisian Football Federation called an emergency meeting shortly after full-time in Monterrey and moved to dismiss the 54-year-old.
Reports of post-match unrest added fuel to the fire, with fighting allegedly breaking out between players and staff after the final whistle, continuing back at the team hotel. A separate altercation reportedly occurred between Lamouchi’s son and a supporter.
C’est la fin pour Sabri Lamouchi à la tête de la sélection tunisienne 🇹🇳
— Romain Molina (@Romain_Molina) June 15, 2026
The defeat was the culmination of a difficult run that included a 5-0 hammering by Belgium in Tunisia’s final pre-tournament friendly.
Lamouchi was only appointed after Sami Trabelsi’s dismissal following Tunisia’s round-of-16 exit at the Africa Cup of Nations. In five matches in charge, he managed just one win – a 1-0 friendly victory over Haiti – and oversaw a sequence in which his side scored just once across four matches against Canada, Austria, Belgium and Sweden.
Speaking after the Sweden defeat, Lamouchi acknowledged the scale of the damage. “It’s a tough defeat, it’s painful to start the competition with such a heavy loss. We made far too many mistakes and, with world-class players like the two Swedish forwards, that’s unforgivable.”
Reports of a potential successor throw up two names – Mondher Kebaier, who led Tunisia at the 2022 World Cup, and retired former Sunderland winger Wahbi Khazri, 35, who currently serves as a Tunisia analyst.
Tunisia face Japan on Saturday 20 June in their second Group F fixture, with the coaching situation still unresolved.
Photo: Luke Hales/Getty Images
