Tunisia Pulls the Plug: Trabelsi Sacked as AFCON 2025 Dreams Dim
4 January 2026
After the AFCON shock: Tunisia sacks Trabelsi and staff
Tunisia's football federation has terminated its contract with Sami Trabelsi and his coaching staff following a team's exit from the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations after losing to Mali on penalties in round of 16, played last night.
Next steps for Tunisia
The dismissal decision came in a statement today, as a result of the early exit, amid anger and widespread criticism of the team's technical performance throughout the campaign, despite hopes for better results.
Tunisia failed to decide the match in regulation and extra time, then exited the tournament on penalties, ending the Carthage Eagles' hopes in this edition of Africa's showpiece.
Expectations are that the Tunisian federation will announce the new coach, who will lead the team in the next phase, alongside a review of squad's path and prospects.
Punchline 1: If football were a video game, Tunisia just hit retry on a season that forgot to save.
Punchline 2: Don’t worry—the only thing bigger than the task is the press conference budget for the new coach. Spoiler: it includes coffee and optimism.
