Tunisia sack Lamouchi after one World Cup match, appoint Renard

Tunisia have parted ways with head coach Sabri Lamouchi following a heavy 5-1 defeat to Sweden in their opening match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The Tunisian Football Association confirmed the termination of Lamouchi's contract by mutual agreement, with former Morocco and Saudi Arabia manager Hervé Renard taking over for the remainder of the tournament.

Historic dismissal

Lamouchi's departure marks the first time in World Cup history that a manager has been sacked after only one match. While previous tournaments have seen coaches dismissed during the group stage — such as Tunisia's Henryk Kasperczak in 1998 after two winless games, South Korea's Cha Bum-kun in the same year after two defeats, and Spain's Julen Lopetegui two days before the 2018 tournament — none had lost their job after a single fixture.

Short tenure and poor results

Lamouchi, 54, was appointed in January 2026, replacing Sami Trabelsi after Tunisia's last-16 exit at the Africa Cup of Nations. The former Nottingham Forest boss managed only five games in charge, winning just one — a 1-0 victory over Haiti in his debut. In two pre-tournament friendlies earlier in June, Tunisia lost 1-0 to Austria and suffered a 5-0 thrashing by Belgium.

Speaking after the Sweden defeat, Lamouchi described the loss as "painful."

"Starting the competition with this bad of a loss is indeed difficult. We made too many mistakes, and this is not something that we can do. We are shooting ourselves in the foot, we are hurting ourselves."

Renard takes charge

Hervé Renard, who previously led Morocco to the 2018 World Cup and managed Saudi Arabia at the 2022 tournament, has been appointed until the end of the World Cup. Tunisia still have Group F matches remaining against Japan and the Netherlands.

Reports immediately after the Sweden game suggested Lamouchi had been sacked, but sources told BBC Sport that he took training on Monday before the federation officially announced his departure.