Sabri Lamouchi fired after one match at the 2026 World Cup

Sabri Lamouchi, the coach of the Tunisia national team, was sacked after a heavy 1-5 defeat in the opening match of the 2026 World Cup against Sweden. The decision to fire him, made just 48 hours after the match, makes him the first coach in history to lose his job after one match at the World Cup. Lamouchi took over in January, replacing Sami Trabelsi, who ended his international career after a disappointing performance in the Africa Cup of Nations. The new coach immediately introduced changes, experimenting with the squad, which aroused controversy among fans and experts.  Despite winning against Haiti in the first friendly match, Tunisia recorded draws and defeats in subsequent matches, including a painful 0-5 loss to Belgium. The defeat against Sweden was the final nail in Lamouchi's coaching coffin, especially since Tunisia still had matches against Japan and the Netherlands, which seemed to be more difficult. After the match, Lamouchi admitted that the team had made too many mistakes and needed to improve their results to present themselves better to the fans. His place was taken by Herve Renard, whose task is to save Tunisia's World Cup campaign. Despite the controversial decision to sack Lamouchi, Tunisia still have a chance to advance to the next round if they manage to win at least one of their remaining group matches. This is an unprecedented situation in the history of the World Cup, which shows how great the expectations are for the national team at this level.