James Milton: Ruthless Tunisia could spark World Cup sack-race market into life

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The opening round of World Cup group matches should be a time for giddy escapism. 

Every game features fresh treats for the eyes and ears - vivid collages of brightly plumed supporters, new kits and national anthems, different stadiums and camera angles.

Your ante-post bets are still alive – possibly even thriving – while Mbappe, Haaland and Messi are rattling in the goals and all's right with the World Cup.

The stress of the domestic season, with its crisis clubs, relegation six-pointers and sack-race markets, is a distant memory. At least it was until Tunisia's 5-1 defeat to Sweden on Monday.

That result prompted the sacking of Tunisia coach Sabri Lamouchi, who must have the nagging sense that somebody up there doesn't like him.

As a player, Lamouchi was named in France's preliminary squad for the 1998 World Cup but didn't make it to the tournament, which Les Bleus won on home soil.

His career in club management led him to Nottingham Forest in the summer of 2019. However, early in Lamouchi's second season at the City Ground, he was sacked by Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis, who famously employed four different managers during the 2025-26 Premier League campaign.

Even Marinakis might regard getting rid of a manager after the first match of a World Cup as a little hasty. 

Mid-tournament sackings are rare but not unprecedented. At France 98, Saudi Arabia, South Korea and Tunisia (again) changed their coaches following two disappointing group-stage results. 

Punters who are sceptical about the "new-manager bounce" should note that all three of those teams claimed creditable score draws in their final group fixtures.

The most dramatic instance, though, came at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations. Ivory Coast, the tournament hosts, scraped through to the knockout stages despite losing 1-0 to Nigeria and 4-0 to Equatorial Guinea in their last two group games.

Coach Jean-Louis Gasset resigned after the matchday-three rout by Equatorial Guinea, leaving his assistant Emerse Fae to step up to the top job.

Fae steered the Elephants past Senegal, Mali and DR Congo before overseeing a 2-1 victory over Nigeria in the final.

The unlikely Afcon hero cannot be dismissed as a one-tournament wonder as his side made a winning start to their World Cup campaign against Ecuador on Monday.

Lamouchi's dismissal doesn't leave the Tunisian Football Federation with much wiggle room if they lose 6-0 to Japan on Sunday.

But they did act swiftly to appoint a replacement with vast experience of international football.

Herve Renard, the former coach of Zambia, Angola, Ivory Coast, Morocco, Saudi Arabia and France Women, is a man who knows the DNA of the planet.

And, in some ways, a kneejerk sacking at a World Cup makes more sense than going through three or four different managers during a single club season.

It might only take a couple of fresh training drills and a rousing pre-match speech for the new boss to boost morale and performance levels.

Renard should inherit a group of players who are fit, motivated and determined to put the Sweden defeat behind them.

It's not like joining a club at the bottom of the table whose disillusioned players are angling for January transfers or checking the relegation clause in their contracts.

Northern Ireland's World Cup dream ended in March when they lost 2-0 to Italy in the playoff semi-final.

But they could still have an influence on the tournament, thanks to the example of manager Michael O'Neill, who also took charge of Blackburn on a short-term, job-share basis for the last three months of the Championship season.

Tunisia's decisive action may inspire other slow-starting World Cup contenders to bring in an interim boss who knows how to galvanise an underperforming team.

Can I get a price on Spain lifting the trophy under head coach Michael Carrick?

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