Tunisia dismisses Sabri Lamouchi after 5-1 against Sweden and replaces him with Hervé Renard

The Tunisian Football Federation (FTF) announced this Tuesday the dismissal of coach Sabri Lamouchi, just one day after the tough defeat against Sweden (5-1) in Tunisia’s debut in the 2026 World Cup, and immediately confirmed the arrival of Hervé Renard to the bench as the new coach of the ‘Eagles of Carthage’.

The defeat suffered in Monterrey left the Tunisian team at the bottom of Group F and precipitated a drastic decision by the federation. Lamouchi leaves office after leading only five matches for the national team, with a record of one victory, one draw and three losses.

Tunisia will now face an express change in the middle of the group stage with the aim of reactivating its qualification options before its second match of the tournament, scheduled for this Saturday against Japan, before closing the first phase against the Netherlands.

To try to change the dynamic, the federation turned to one of the coaches with the most recent experience in major tournaments. Hervé Renard will thus face his third participation in a World Cup and he will do so with a third different team.

The French coach, born in Aix-les-Bains, led Morocco in the 2018 World Cup in Russia, where the North African team had a commendable performance and closed the group stage with a draw against Spain (2-2).

Four years later he took the reins of Saudi Arabia and signed one of the biggest surprises in the recent history of the tournament by defeating Argentina 2-1 in the premiere of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, a team that would end up becoming champion.

Subsequently, Renard led the French women’s team in the 2023 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand and in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games before returning to Saudi Arabia, a team that qualified for this World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada.

However, he was relieved before the start of this final phase and will finally experience the tournament from another bench. Their immediate mission will be to try to rescue a very damaged Tunisia after their debut and keep their chances of reaching the playoffs alive.