Renard has beaten world champions before. Tunisia are counting on him to do it again — starting Saturday. After a 5-1 hammering by Sweden, Tunisia sacked Sabri Lamouchi and handed the reins to Hervé Renard — the well-travelled coach who once beat Argentina with Saudi Arabia and won two Africa Cups of Nations.
Tunisia did not wait long. Less than 48 hours after being thrashed 5-1 by Sweden in their World Cup opener, the Tunisian football federation fired coach Sabri Lamouchi on Tuesday and replaced him with Hervé Renard — a French coach whose CV reads like a tour of international football’s most demanding jobs.
Lamouchi, 54, had only been in the role since January. His deal did not survive a single match. Renard’s appointment covers the remainder of the tournament; discussions about a longer-term arrangement will follow once the World Cup is over, the federation said.
The task in front of Tunisia is steep. The 5-1 defeat leaves them needing results against Japan on Saturday and the Netherlands on June 25 to have any realistic chance of reaching the last 32.
Renard’s deal covers only the World Cup. A longer-term agreement will be discussed after that. — Tunisian soccer federation
The man they called
Renard is no stranger to crisis appointments or high-pressure environments. He has won the Africa Cup of Nations twice — with Zambia and Ivory Coast — and has coached Morocco at the 2018 World Cup and Saudi Arabia in 2022, where his side produced one of the tournament’s most memorable upsets by defeating eventual champion Argentina.
He went on to manage the French women’s team at the 2023 Women’s World Cup before returning to Saudi Arabia’s men’s side, a role that ended in April when he was replaced by Georgios Donis following two friendly defeats in the lead-up to this tournament.
A recurring chapter in World Cup history
Mid-tournament sackings are rare, but Tunisia has been here before. At the 1998 World Cup in France, they dismissed Henryk Kasperczak after group-stage losses to England and Colombia ended their knockout hopes before the final game against Romania.
The most dramatic precedent belongs to Spain, who fired Julen Lopetegui two days before their opening 2018 match against Portugal after his appointment as Real Madrid’s next coach was announced mid-tournament.
This is Tunisia’s seventh World Cup appearance. They have never made it out of the group stage.
- Source: The Associated Press