Tunisia has parted ways with head coach Sabri Lamouchi following the team’s crushing 5-1 defeat to Sweden in its opening World Cup match and has appointed experienced French manager Herve Renard as his replacement. The decision was announced by the Tunisian Football Federation on social media on Tuesday.

Lamouchi, 54, had been in charge of the national side for only a few months, having taken over the role in January. The heavy loss to Sweden on Sunday has significantly complicated Tunisia’s hopes of progressing to the knockout rounds. The North African nation now faces must-win encounters against Japan on Saturday and the Netherlands on June 25 if it hopes to reach the last 32.

Renard arrives with an impressive international coaching résumé. The Frenchman guided both Zambia and Ivory Coast to Africa Cup of Nations titles and has managed several national teams on the world stage. He led Morocco at the 2018 World Cup and later coached Saudi Arabia at the 2022 edition, where his side produced one of the tournament’s biggest shocks by defeating eventual champions Argentina. Renard has also been in charge of the French women’s national team and most recently completed another spell with Saudi Arabia’s men’s side.

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This is not the first time Tunisia has made a coaching change during a World Cup campaign. At the 1998 tournament, Henryk Kasperczak was dismissed after consecutive group-stage defeats to England and Colombia eliminated Tunisia from contention before its final match against Romania.

Mid-tournament managerial upheaval has occurred elsewhere as well. Ahead of the 2018 World Cup, Spain dismissed Julen Lopetegui just two days before its opening group match against Portugal after it was announced that he would take charge of Real Madrid following the tournament.

Tunisia is participating in the World Cup for the seventh time in its history but is still searching for its first appearance in the knockout stages, having never progressed beyond the group phase.

Lamouchi, a former France international midfielder, also has previous World Cup coaching experience, having led Ivory Coast at the 2014 tournament in Brazil.