Ex-Nottingham Forest boss Sabri Lamouchi 'axed' after 'painful' World Cup defeat

Tunisia’s opening World Cup game ended in a painful defeat in the early hours of this morning (Monday) UK time. Lamouchi has reportedly paid the price with his job, six months after he was appointed as manager.

Various accounts on social media, including EuroFoot have claimed Lamouchi has been axed. Journalist Romain Molina posted on X: “It's the end for Sabri Lamouchi at the helm of the Tunisian national team.”

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Metro TV, in Ghana, said: “The decision comes amid mounting pressure from supporters and football authorities after Tunisia’s alarming defensive collapse, which saw the North Africans concede five goals in a World Cup match for the first time in their history. Lamouchi’s position had come under intense scrutiny in recent months, but the humiliating loss to Sweden proved to be the final straw.”

After Tunisia’s mauling in Monterrey, Lamouchi had said (via Zamin): “This was a truly difficult and painful defeat for us. It is very painful to start a prestigious tournament like the World Cup with such a heavy loss.

“To be honest, we made too many gross errors on the pitch. If you give space to world-class, high-quality players like Alexander Isak and Viktor Gyökeres in the Swedish attack, they will never forgive you and they will punish you.”

As a result of that loss, Tunisia are bottom of Group F. They take on Japan on Sunday, then face the Netherlands in their final group game on June 26.

Reports suggest Lamouchi’s assistant Wahbi Khazri will step in as interim manager. Lamouchi had signed a two-and-a-half-year contract when he took up the role in January.

The 54-year-old took Forest to the brink of qualifying for the Championship play-offs during his time Trentside. The Reds fell agonisingly short of making the cut as they suffered a final-day thumping at home to Stoke City in 2020.

Lamouchi had picked up the reins at the City Ground the previous summer. He remained in post after that miserable finish to the pandemic-disrupted 2019/20 season but results failed to pick up and he was given the boot in October 2020.