Tunisia have become the first team to sack their head coach during the 2026 World Cup, dismissing Sabri Lamouchi barely hours after a 5-1 demolition by Sweden in their Group F opener in Monterrey, Mexico. The Tunisian Football Federation confirmed the decision via its official Instagram account late on Sunday, stating that an agreement had been reached to relieve the 54-year-old Frenchman of his duties and that plans were underway to appoint former national team coach Mondher Kebaier on an interim basis. The move, viewed from Stockholm as a predictable aftershock of Sweden’s attacking masterclass, sends the Carthage Eagles into their second match against Japan on 21 June in a state of profound disarray.

The defeat itself was as comprehensive as the scoreline suggests. Sweden, led by the razor-sharp duo of Alexander Isak and Viktor Gyökeres, tore through a Tunisian defence that committed, in Lamouchi’s own words, “too many errors that should not happen at this level.” Yasin Ayari struck twice, while Mattias Svanberg also got on the scoresheet; Omar Rekik’s header was Tunisia’s lone reply. Lamouchi had been in the post only since January, and his five-match tenure yielded a single victory, one draw, and three defeats, with eleven goals conceded and just two scored. Pre-tournament friendly losses to Austria and Belgium had already eroded confidence, and the Sweden rout proved terminal.

Behind the scenes, the situation was even more combustible. Reports from Tunisian radio station Mosaique FM, widely cited by Italian and Spanish outlets, described a physical altercation between players and staff at the team hotel after the match, with senior delegation members demanding Lamouchi’s removal before the final whistle had even sounded. Analysts in Rome note that the federation’s emergency meeting was driven as much by a breakdown in dressing-room discipline as by the scoreline. The sacking, while rare, is not unprecedented: Tunisia also fired a coach mid-tournament in 1998, and the World Cup has occasionally witnessed such abrupt exits, though never before in the competition’s expanded 48-team format.

Looking ahead, Tunisia must now attempt to salvage their campaign under caretaker leadership, with Kebaier—who previously managed the side between 2019 and 2022—tasked with restoring order before the Japan fixture. The challenge is immense: Sweden top the group and look poised to advance, while the psychological damage of the opening collapse will be difficult to repair in a matter of days. Observers in London point out that the episode underscores the brutal short-termism now pervading international football, where a single heavy defeat can obliterate a project barely five months old. For Tunisia, the World Cup continues, but the sense of crisis is already acute.