Tunisia parting ways with head coach Sabri Lamouchi after their 1-5 loss to Sweden in their 2026 FIFA World Cup Group F clash has been met with different reactions from fans and ex-players, Soccernet.ng reports.
The French tactician took over from Sami Trabelsi after the Carthage Eagles were knocked out of the AFCON 2025 tournament by Mali in the round of sixteen. Lamouchi oversaw five games, three of which ended in losses, and despite that, ex-Flying Eagles coach John Obuh believes a lay-off was unfair to the 54-year-old.
Brighton's midfielder Yasin Ayari opened the scoring for Sweden at the Monterrey Stadium in Mexico before Liverpool striker Alexander Isak doubled the lead for Graham Potter's side on the half-hour mark.
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Omar Rekik pulled one back for the North African side just before the end of the first half. However, Viktor Gyokeres and Mattias Svanberg found the back of the net for Sweden before Ayari added his second of the game in the 96th minute.
After the game, Lamouchi was given his marching orders, and former Saudi Arabia head coach Herve Renard was brought in to oversee the remainder of their World Cup campaign.
2026 World Cup: John Obuh reveals why Tunisia were wrong to sack Sabri Lamouchi
Obuh has coached Nigeria across several tiers, but opined that firing a coach after just a game in the biggest footballing tournament makes no sense.
“I’m not an advocate of making changes in the middle of a tournament, it does not make any sense,” the 66-year-old said in an interview with Footy Africa.
“But such a thing is already pre-planned. If you see any country behave like their federation did, they had a doubt earlier on before they gave him the mantle to lead the team.
“Their doubt happened to establish itself, and that is why they had to do it.”
Obuh also pointed out that the coach shouldn't take all the blame for the failures of the team, especially since the players failed to convert their chances against Sweden.
“Tunisia is a country we have always believed can present a good performance at the World Cup, but if you are not fully prepared psychologically, and by your selection of the players you brought into the competition, you are bound to have issues.
“Not every blame goes to the coaches; at times, some of these blames go to the players.
“Statistics don’t win football. It gives you the opportunity to have an idea of how the football is going, but it does not give you a breakthrough.
”They did not take their chances, and they were not nearby scoring. You kept possession, but in the final third, it does not give you the opportunity to score. So, what is the possession for?
“If you can play a ball from your goal post into the 18-yard box of the opponent and score without five or ten people touching it, you have won the game,” the one-time AFCON U-20 winning-coach added.
Quizzed if Tunisia can turn their poor start around with games against Japan and the Netherlands on the cards, the former Akwa United coach said:
“Football being what it is, the first game is always an important game, but it is a trial to so many coaches.
“I don’t think they will approach the second game the way they approached the first. Unfortunately, they have made changes to their technical crew.
“I wouldn’t want to say whether that will help or not help, but football being what it is, they might come out stronger than they did and present a better squad,” Obuh concluded.
Tunisia will play against Japan next Sunday before taking on Ronald Koeman's Netherlands on Friday, June 26th. All times for the fixtures can be confirmed here.
