Can a coach get fired if they lose their first group match?

That seems a possibility if you coach the Japanese team according to Zico. He thinks his job will be on the line if the team loses its first-round match against Australia at the World Cup.

Zico said “If Japan loses the first game against Australia and [Japan] wants to fire me or wants me to go on, that’s fine, we will have two more games.”

He later mentioned, “I don’t think that it would be an abnormal result if Japan lost against Australia. It might happen.”

A win in the June 13 game was “very important” and crucial to Japan’s goal of a place in the semi-finals, he added.

I wouldn’t think it advisable to fire a manager after one group game as the team can still recover to qualify for the group stages.