The best finishes for interim coaches, big defeats for hosts, a lack of FA Cup minnows and Scott Dann comes good
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“Afcon hosts Ivory Coast sacked coach Jean-Louis Gasset after a desultory group-stage performance, but it was later confirmed they had qualified for the last 16. Has a coach ever been sacked during an international tournament before? And if so, what is the best finish for a coach (or caretaker) appointed mid-tournament?” asks Grant Ninnes.
Gasset isn’t the first coach to get his cards in the middle of a tournament, though most of his predecessors were sacked after two group games and with their team in the departure lounge. Two such examples came at the 1998 World Cup. Tunisia got rid of Henryk Kasperczak after the shame of losing against England and Colombia in their first two group games, even though both were reasonably tight. Ali Selmi took over for the last match against Romania’s new blond army, earning an impressive 1-1 draw.
2020 Russia 0-3 Belgium, Hungary 0-3 Portugal (both group stage)
2023 Ivory Coast 0-4 Equatorial Guinea, group stage
1959 Ecuador 0-4 Uruguay, round robin
2016 USA 0-4 Argentina, semi-final
1997 Saudi Arabia 0-5 Mexico, group stage
2001 South Korea 0-5 France, group stage
2009 USA 0-5 Mexico, final
1947 Ecuador 1-6 Uruguay, round robin
1971 Trinidad & Tobago 0-6 Haiti, round robin
1980 New Caledonia 0-8 Australia, group stage
1947 One team (Port Vale)
1983 Two teams (Swindon, Torquay)