Tunisia have sacked head coach Sabri Lamouchi after just one game of the 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign. The 54-year-old former France international was dismissed the day after Tunisia suffered a 5-1 thrashing by Sweden in their opening Group F match in Monterrey, Mexico, on Sunday night.

Tunisian officials have appointed Mondher Kebaier, who led the national team from 2019 to 2022 and has been in a technical director role since last year, as interim boss ahead of the second group game against Japan in the early hours of Sunday, also in Monterrey.

The 56-year-old previously guided the Eagles of Carthage to the final of the Arab Cup in 2021, losing to Algeria, before a quarterfinal exit in AFCON the following year.

Speaking before his departure, Lamouchi said his side had been punished for a string of costly mistakes: "It's a difficult loss. It's painful. Starting the competition with this bad of a loss is indeed difficult. We made way too many mistakes."

Lamouchi was already under pressure after a 5-0 defeat to Belgium in the team's final warm-up game, while he has been forced to defend the presence of his son during their training camp despite him not being an official member of the party. Tunisia will face Japan and the Netherlands in their remaining group fixtures. Lamouchi added: "We have our pride. We need to react. We need to give a better image."

Source: www.aljazeera.com