Ex-Nottingham Forest and Cardiff City boss facing sack from World Cup job | OneFootball

Sabri Lamouchi is under intense pressure as Tunisia boss

Unsurprisingly, the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico is already generating plenty of on and off-pitch headlines for both good and bad reasons.

The 23rd edition of the tournament got underway just last Thursday when Mexico defeated South Africa 3-0 in Mexico City, with one of the goals coming from Wolverhampton Wanderers' cult hero and summer recruit, Raul Jimenez.

In the days which have followed, we have already seen representation of players currently plying their trades in the Championship, League One and League Two, with a handful of those also getting on the scoresheet.

Most notably, West Ham United's in-demand winger, Crysencio Summerville netted the Netherlands' second goal in the entertaining 2-2 draw with Japan in Dallas on Sunday night in the opening game of Group F.

Ultimately, Ronald Koeman's side had been put in a rather intriguing group with their Asian opponents, as well as Sweden and Tunisia, who then took to the stage in the early hours of Monday morning UK time, when facing off in Monterrey Stadium, well-known for its spectacular mountainous backdrop.

It was also an encounter which saw two former Championship bosses face off against one another at the major tournament, with Graham Potter - who previously led Swansea City to the 2020/21 play-off final - up against Sabri Lamouchi, once of their bitter South Wales rivals, Cardiff City.

However, it was the Scandinavian nation who sent out a statement to their group rivals, and perhaps supporters of other nations, with a comprehensive 5-1 rout in the Mexican dusk.

As such, the latter of the two is reportedly facing the sack despite the fact Tunisia still have two group stage games to play.

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Indeed, Lamouchi first broke onto the scene in terms of the EFL back in the summer of 2019, when Nottingham Forest, again, were desperate to end their previous lengthy exile from the Premier League.

Under the well-documented and controversial ownership of Evangelos Marinakis, the Frenchman was appointed in place of the vastly-experienced Martin O'Neill at the City Ground.

In the early weeks and months of his tenure, the Lyon native enjoyed strong success and had the East Midlands competing for promotion against the likes of Leeds United and West Bromwich Albion, before they fell away after 'project restart' and missed out on a place in the top six, but was still the club's first manager to fulfill an entire season since 2011.

However, a dire start to the 2020/21 campaign saw him dismissed and replaced by Chris Hughton, before joining Cardiff for a short period in the second half of the 2022/23 season, in which the Bluebirds finished 21st.

The 54-year-old was handed the Tunisia job on a two-and-a-half year contract in January, but following their 5-1 loss against Sweden, has reportedly been sacked.

According to Romain Molina, "it is the end for Sabri Lamouchi at the helm of the Tunisian national team."

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Tunisia would have no doubt fancied their chances of potential progress in the tournament, especially with the eight best-performing third-placed sides going through to the round of 32 as a result of the expansion to 48 nations.

However, those chances were dealt a major blow in terms of both confidence and goal difference, with Lamouchi issuing his thoughts post-match.

“With world-class players that we have in the two Swedish forwards, it’s something that you don’t recover from. We made way too many mistakes... We have our pride. We need to react. We need to give a better image," said the 54-year-old.

However, with the African country's next clash against Japan also coming in Monterrey in the early hours of Sunday morning, it remains to be seen if the former EFL boss will be afforded the opportunity to demand such a reaction from his team on the pitch.