Tunisia has fired coach Sabri Lamouchi after being thrashed 5-1 by Sweden in its first match at the World Cup and appointed French coach Hervé Renard. The 54-year-old Lamouchi had been in charge only since January.Renard’s deal covers only the World Cup and a longer-term agreement will be discussed after that, the Tunisian soccer federation said on Tuesday.Tunisia’s heavy loss on Sunday left the North African nation with a tough task to reach the last 32. The team’s remaining group games are against Japan on Saturday and the Netherlands on June 25.
Renard is an experienced coach who specializes in leading national teams across Africa and the Arabic-speaking world. He’s won the Africa Cup of Nations with Zambia and the Ivory Coast. He coached Morocco at the 2018 World Cup and Saudi Arabia in 2022 — earning a notable upset win over eventual champion Argentina — and the French team at the following year’s Women’s World Cup . His most recent job was another stint with Saudi Arabia’s men, which ended in April when he was replaced by Georgios Donis following two friendly losses ahead of the World Cup. It’s not the first time Tunisia has made a mid-tournament coaching change at a World Cup.
In 1998, Henryk Kasperczak was fired after group-stage losses to England and Colombia, which ruled the team out of contention for the knockout stage before its closing match against Romania. Spain went even earlier at the 2018 World Cup, firing Julen Lopetegui two days before its first group game — against Portugal — after he was announced as the next Real Madrid coach for the following season. Tunisia is making its seventh appearance at the World Cup and has never advanced from the group stage.Lamouchi is a former France international who previously coached Ivory Coast at the 2014 World Cup.