Hervé Renard Is Back In The World Cup, Coaching A Tunisia In Turmoil

It seems no World Cup is complete without Hervé Renard and suddenly, somehow, surprisingly he will also be at this one. The suntanned Frenchman in the trademark open-necked white shirt was hired to coach Tunisia on Tuesday for its final two group games following turmoil. Tunisia fired coach Sabri Lamouchi early Tuesday after the team was routed 5-1 by Sweden in its opening game on Sunday. So here comes Hervé for his third straight men’s World Cup with a third different team. In between times, he also took France to the 2023 Women’s World Cup. Renard’s latest reprieve comes just two months after he was fired by Saudi Arabia despite leading the kingdom through a shaky qualifying program, where it was given home advantage through the final rounds. His finest World Cup hour was guiding the Saudis to a shocking 2-1 win over eventual champion Argentina and Lionel Messi in their 2022 opener in Qatar. Between men’s World Cups, Renard left Saudi Arabia to coach the France women at their World Cup three years ago and then as the home team at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Both ended in quarterfinals exits. His first World Cup was in 2018 with Morocco, which impressed in Russia with the core of a team that would reach the semifinals in Qatar. However, Morocco under Renard did not advance to the knockout stage from a tough group with Spain, Portugal and Iran. Renard has yet to lead a team out of the World Cup group stage which is now his short-term mission that could be all over within 10 days. His appeal in an emergency to an African soccer federation like Tunisia — now the sixth to hire him — is that he made history winning Africa Cup of Nations titles with two different teams: Zambia in 2012 and Ivory Coast in 2015. Renard has just four days to get his ideas across before Tunisia faces Japan on Saturday in Monterrey, Mexico. Tunisia then plays the group favorite Netherlands in Kansas City on June 25. It could be another compelling chapter in the colorful career of a coach who first made headlines in the wider soccer world at English lower-tier club Cambridge in 2004. Back then, Renard was assistant to another well-traveled French coach. Claude de Roy coached Cameroon at the 1998 World Cup six years before arriving at a soccer backwater in the city more famous for its university. Still dashingly striking at 57, Renard should carry his usual style and glamor at yet another World Cup stage. Reporting by The Associated Press.