Hervé Renard is making his return as Saudi Arabia coach after his stint between 2019 and 2023, the Saudi federation announced on Saturday.
After leaving the French women’s team at the end of the Olympic Games, he replaced the Italian Roberto Mancini for a two-year contract, according to a close source close to the negotiations.
“There was a lot of controversy over his return, but the fact that he knows the team well was decisive for his return”declared this source, while hoping that with him Saudi Arabia “will correct the situation in qualifying for the World Cup”.
Negotiations with Mancini on the termination of his contract began after the home defeat against Japan (2-0) during qualifying for the 2026 World Cup.
With the Saudi selection, the double winner of the CAN (2012 with Zambia and 2015 with Ivory Coast) signed an exploit by beating Lionel Messi’s Argentina at the end of November 2022 (2-1) in the group stage of the World Cup in Qatar.
On several occasions, Hervé Renard, whose contract at the head of the French women’s team ran until the Paris Games this summer, indicated that he wanted to lead a selection and participate in the next World Cup in the summer of 2026.
His time with Les Bleues ended with two eliminations in the quarter-finals, at the World Cup in 2023 then at the Paris Games.
Contacted by AFP, Hervé Renard did not immediately respond.
In a video published by the Saudi federation on Instagram, the Frenchman explains that he did not “never forgot the connection with the audience and the country and all the memories”. “I haven’t finished my story with Saudi Arabia, I’m back”he declared.
