Tunisia's World Cup collapse raises hard questions about the federation and what comes next

Tunisia returned from the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Wednesday without a point, having conceded 12 goals across three group-stage matches, scored just two, and made history for all the wrong reasons: the Carthage Eagles became the first team in World Cup history to sack their head coach after a single game.

The reckoning now begins. With a new Africa Cup of Nations cycle and 2030 World Cup qualifying on the horizon, the Tunisian Football Federation (TFF) faces pressure to explain how a squad that qualified without conceding a single goal in the entire African campaign arrived in North America so ill-prepared — and what it intends to do differently.

How it unravelled

On 15 June, Tunisia lost 5–1 to Sweden in their opening Group F match and subsequently lost 4–0 to Japan in their second group game, eliminating them from the tournament. They headed home with no points, 12 goals conceded and only two scored.

The team had also suffered a 5–0 defeat to Belgium in a pre-tournament friendly. Lamouchi was already under pressure after that warm-up defeat, while he had been forced to defend the presence of his son during the training camp despite the son not being an official member of the party.

Tunisia conceded within the first seven minutes of all three games at the tournament. In the final group match against the Netherlands on 25 June in Kansas City, the Netherlands took the lead through Skhiri's own goal in the third minute after Dumfries' right-wing cross was inadvertently diverted into the net by the Tunisian captain. Tunisia scored in the 54th minute, when Hazem Mastouri redirected a corner kick into the net, but the Netherlands answered in the 62nd, when Jan Paul van Hecke's header off a corner glanced off a Tunisian defender and into the net. The final score was 3–1.

In the process, Tunisia became the first World Cup side since Greece in 1994 to lose both of their opening tournament matches by a four-goal margin.

The Lamouchi sacking

The 54-year-old former France international Sabri Lamouchi was sacked the day after Tunisia's 5–1 defeat to Sweden in their opening Group F game in Monterrey, Mexico. His departure made him the first manager in World Cup history to be dismissed after just one game.

Lamouchi, who was appointed in January, spent just five games in charge of Tunisia, of which he lost three. His only win came in a 1–0 victory over Haiti. He had managed Rennes and Nottingham Forest before short stints in Qatar, with Cardiff City and in Saudi Arabia, before being appointed by Tunisia in January on a two-and-a-half-year contract following a disappointing Africa Cup of Nations campaign.

Renard: emergency appointment, frank exit

The TFF appointed French coach Hervé Renard as the new head coach, replacing Lamouchi, and confirmed the decision on 16 June. The 57-year-old had been watching the tournament from Senegal when Tunisia abruptly fired Lamouchi following the 5–1 loss to Sweden.

The federation's statement stipulated that negotiations regarding long-term cooperation — based on specific sporting objectives — would commence following the team's World Cup campaign. That offer was ultimately set aside. Renard confirmed that his contract to oversee the Carthage Eagles ran only until the end of the World Cup, with no current plans to extend beyond the tournament.

Renard took over amid reports of tension and infighting within the team, and little seemed to have changed in a 4–0 loss to Japan. After the final defeat to the Netherlands, the 57-year-old delivered a frank assessment of Tunisia's lack of quality, saying: "We were not at the level for this World Cup."

Renard brought a distinguished record to the role. He had previously won the Africa Cup of Nations with Zambia in 2012 and with Ivory Coast in 2015, becoming the first coach to win two AFCON titles with different teams. His appointment marked his third World Cup campaign as a head coach, having previously managed Morocco at Russia 2018 and Saudi Arabia at Qatar 2022. His most recent World Cup experience with Saudi Arabia produced one of the biggest shocks in tournament history, defeating eventual champions Argentina in the group stage. None of it was enough to steady a squad in freefall.

The structural problem

The crisis has exposed a dysfunction that runs deeper than any single coach. The national team has had seven coaches since the 2022 World Cup, making it impossible for the team to build chemistry, an identity, or a coherent style of play.

That instability stands in sharp contrast to the qualifying campaign. In 2025, Tunisia became the first team in history to qualify for the World Cup without conceding a goal during the 2026 qualifying campaign. On 10 February 2025, Sami Trabelsi returned to the team as coach twelve years after his departure, leading the team to qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Trabelsi was then replaced before the tournament began by Lamouchi — who had led Tunisia through Group H, recording seven wins and one draw , before the pre-tournament preparations fell apart.

Moving into a new cycle with competitions like the Africa Cup of Nations and 2030 World Cup qualifying coming up, the question is whether the federation will provide the stability that results require. As of 30 June, the TFF had not announced a new head coach or a formal review process. The federation's next move will set the tone for a generation of Tunisian football.