World Cup: before Lamouchi, these four coaches were sacked mid-tournament

14.06.26 FT World Cup

Sweden

5

:

Tunisia

1

French coach Sabri Lamouchi will not continue his adventure at the helm of Tunisia during this World Cup.

The former French international paid a heavy price for the Carthage Eagles’ rout against Sweden (1-5) in their opening Group F match.

The Lyon native has been replaced by fellow countryman Hervé Renard, who is set to join the squad in Mexico on Tuesday, June 16, before officially taking charge at the training session on Wednesday, June 17.

World Cup 2026: The official and complete group stage schedule

Before Sabri Lamouchi, several other head coaches suffered the same fate in the midst of the tournament.

Andy Beattie (Scotland – 1954 World Cup)

The Scottish manager only took charge of a single match at the 1954 World Cup before stepping down after a dispute with his employers.

Unhappy with the lack of commitment from the Scottish Football Association, he threatened to walk away following a narrow defeat to Austria.

After this dramatic turn of events, the Scottish football authorities did not hesitate to thank him in the middle of the tournament.

Cha Bum-kun (South Korea – 1998 World Cup)

The former South Korean football star endured a nightmare during the 1998 World Cup finals.

After back-to-back defeats to Mexico (1-3) and the Netherlands (0-5), he was dismissed, leaving his assistant Kim Pyung-seok to take over for the third group match against Belgium, which ended 2-2.

Following his World Cup misadventure in 1998, the former Frankfurt star went on to coach Chinese club Shenzhen FC.

Carlos Alberto Parreira (Saudi Arabia – 1998 World Cup)

The Brazilian manager paid the price for Saudi Arabia’s poor performances in the first two group stage matches against Denmark (0-1) and France (0-4).

He was replaced by interim coach Mohammed Al-Kharashi, who managed to secure a draw against South Africa (2-2).

Afterwards, Carlos Alberto Parreira returned to coach the Seleção for a second stint from 2003 to 2006.

Henryk Kasperczak (Tunisia – 1998 World Cup)

The Polish coach also only managed two matches at the 1998 World Cup, both ending in defeat to England (0-2) and Colombia (0-1).

He was replaced by his assistant Ali Selmi, who managed a draw against Romania (1-1) in the third and final group stage match.

The Zabrze native had a second, less fruitful stint with the Carthage Eagles from 2015 to 2017.

Imed Ben Amara |

Editorar, fr

Imed Ben Amara - bilingual sports writer and web editor with experience in football content creation. Since 2021, he has contributed to Foot Africa, providing news coverage and analysis.

Related teams and leagues

Sweden

Tunisia

World Cup