Sabri Lamouchi has been removed as Tunisia's head coach. AFPSabri Lamouchi has been removed as Tunisia's head coach. AFPNorth African side suffered chastening 5-1 loss to Sweden in openerThe NationalJune 16, 2026Sabri Lamouchi became the first casualty of the 2026 World Cup as he was sacked from his post as Tunisia head coach following a chastening 5-1 defeat to Sweden in their tournament opener.The Tunisian ⁠football federation ⁠announced ​his dismissal on its Instagram account.“An agreement has been officially reached ⁠to dismiss coach Sabri Lamouchi,” the statement said. “Plans are under way ‌to appoint ‌Mondher Kebaier as the national team ‌coach [on an interim basis].”Tunisia had high hopes coming into the tournament on the back of a superb qualifying campaign where they did not concede a single goal.Lamouchi had banked on his team’s defence to make a mark in what was the third straight World Cup appearance for the Eagles of Carthage.But on Sunday, Tunisia suffered a rude awakening as Yasin Ayari registered a brace, Alexander Isak had one goal and two assists, while Viktor Gyokeres recorded a goal and an assist in a comfortable win for Sweden.Lamouchi had only taken up the job from Sami Trabelsi, who was dismissed from his role in January after a disappointing 2025 Africa Cup of Nations in which Tunisia exited at the last-16 stage.Following the opening loss in the 2026 finals, Lamouchi had lamented mistakes from his players.“We made way too many mistakes,” Lamouchi said.“It's a difficult loss. It's painful. Starting the competition with ⁠this bad of a loss is indeed difficult. With world-class players that we have in the two Swedish forwards [Gyokeres and Isak], it's something that you don't recover from.”Lamouchi, 54, was hired ​in ‌January and was already under ⁠fire following a 5-0 loss to Belgium ⁠in a pre-tournament friendly on June 6 in Brussels.The Frenchman previously managed Ivory Coast at the 2014 World Cup but failed to advance beyond the group stage in Brazil.Under-23 coach Anis Boujelbene is expected to travel to North America and aid the team for their remaining fixtures against Japan and the Netherlands.Updated: June 16, 2026, 2:13 AM