Nantes gamble on Kantari to pull off a late-season miracle

Nantes appoints Kantari to guide relegation battle

A new opportunity for the Pharaohs’ striker.

Nantes, the French club, announced on Thursday the dismissal of Portuguese manager Luis Castro due to poor results.

Castro, 45, was sacked after 15 rounds of the French league, with the Canaries sitting 17th on 11 points, level with Metz at the bottom.

Nantes will face Angers tomorrow, Friday, as the 16th round kicks off.

In an official statement, Nantes said Moroccan Kantari was promoted from assistant coach to interim head coach for the rest of the season.

Kantari is 40, also holds French citizenship, began his career in the PSG youth system and played for Strasbourg, Brest, Lens and Toronto, retiring in 2019 with Valenciennes.

He started his coaching career as an assistant at Valenciennes, and worked as an assistant to his compatriot Sabri Lamouchi at Nottingham Forest in England and Al-Duhail in Qatar.

He also served as youth-team coach at Valenciennes several times, and became Antoine Kombouaré’s assistant at Nantes from December 2024 after Castro’s dismissal.

Perhaps Kantari offers a fresh chance for Egypt striker Mostafa Mohamed to start regularly, as he often sits on Nantes’ bench while the Pharaohs prepare for Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco starting December 21.

If all goes well, Nantes might finally stop crunching numbers and start counting wins.