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Tunisia

Sabri Lamouchi says he believed he could transform Tunisia but felt not everyone was fully committed to his vision before his short spell as national team coach ended after the 2026 World Cup defeat by Sweden. The Frenchman, who took charge of the Eagles of Carthage in January 2026, discussed his experience in an interview with The Athletic, several months after leaving the role. Lamouchi was appointed to replace Sami Trabelsi and initially signed a contract that was due to run until July 2027. However, his time in charge came to an abrupt end after Tunisia's opening World Cup match, a 5-1 defeat by Sweden. Despite the disappointing result and his departure, Lamouchi said he had been confident that he could make significant changes to the national team. The former coach said: "I was convinced that I could change something for them, but I'm not sure everyone was on the same page." Lamouchi also looked back at the Sweden match and insisted that the eventual five-goal defeat did not reflect how the game had initially developed. Tunisia had reduced the deficit to 2-1 and, according to Lamouchi, were closer to scoring an equaliser than conceding another goal. He believes individual mistakes then changed the direction of the match. He said: "When we were down 2-1, the score was closer to 2-2 than 3-1. We were in the game, then we made a big individual mistake. We destroyed ourselves, and it was all over." The former Tunisia boss also spoke about the lack of complete harmony he felt during his time with the team, using a comparison involving a relationship to describe his disappointment. Lamouchi said the situation reminded him of someone who wants to marry a woman for life but discovers that she does not love him, leaving him waiting at the wedding before she ultimately decides not to attend. The analogy reflected his belief that his project with Tunisia did not receive the same level of commitment from everyone involved. Lamouchi's tenure ended after just one World Cup match, with Hervé Renard taking over during the tournament following the defeat by Sweden. Despite the circumstances surrounding his departure, Lamouchi said he did not want the episode to become a personal dispute. He considers the period with Tunisia to be part of his professional career and his life. His latest comments have reopened discussion about his brief spell in charge of the Eagles of Carthage and his belief that he was not given sufficient time to implement his ideas. Lamouchi remains convinced that there was more he could have achieved with Tunisia had his project been allowed to continue, but his tenure ended almost as quickly as it began after the heavy defeat by Sweden.

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