Can Herve Renard Save Tunisia’s World Cup After a Historic Coaching Sacking?

Tunisia and their fans will be hoping for some Hervé Renard magic after appointing the charismatic Frenchman in an attempt to salvage their FIFA World Cup 2026 campaign.

The Carthage Eagles did not hesitate in parting company with Sabri Lamouchi after their 5-1 defeat by Sweden on Monday — making them the first country in history to sack a coach after their opening game at a World Cup finals.

The expanded 48-team format means Tunisia still have a chance to progress from Group F, but Renard has little margin for error when he takes his place in the dugout against Japan on Sunday.

“When the federation contacted me, I didn’t hesitate for a second,” Renard said after his appointment on Tuesday. “It’s a challenge that isn’t easy, but it’s a motivating challenge.”

A Career Unlike Any Other: From Cleaner to World Cup Coach

Renard is known for the pristine white shirts he wears when prowling the touchline. His early career circumstances, however, were far from pristine.

His first steps into management came at SC Draguignan in south-east France — the final club he played for before retiring aged 29. Offered the chance to do some coaching there, he supplemented his income with a job as a cleaner.

He would get up in the middle of the night, head to a block of flats to remove bins and carry out general cleaning duties until lunchtime, then take training in the afternoon.

“I woke up at 2:30 in the morning, finished around noon and then left at 5pm for training at Draguignan,” Renard told BBC Sport Africa in 2019. “We trained and I’d return home at around 9pm to eat and then go to bed at 11pm. That was my rhythm of life for eight years.”

Renard studied for his coaching badges alongside the cleaning work, and he credits that period with giving him a perspective few managers possess.

“It was a physical job and I’m proud of having done it. It’s the best schooling I could have had. You have to go through some failures and difficult times but it makes you stronger.”

The Rise to the Top: Afcon Titles and World Cup Moments

Renard got his big break when appointed assistant to compatriot Claude Le Roy at Shanghai Cosco in 2002, later following him to Cambridge United.

It was at international level in Africa where he truly made his name. He is the only manager to have won the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) with two different countries — leading Zambia to a fairytale triumph over Ivory Coast in 2012 before guiding the Ivory Coast to the trophy three years later.

Zambian sports journalist Nkweto Tembwe remembers him as a “workaholic” and “master tactician.”

“Hervé is a very, very focused person and knows what he wants. This is a gentleman that is not scared to get in the deep end and do the work. He does a lot of reading to make sure he keeps up with the trends that are going on. He studies opponents like he’s studying for an exam.”

Tembwe also credits Renard’s motivational abilities as central to his Zambia success: “If you listen to Hervé’s pep talk in the semi-final against Ghana, you realise that Zambia won that match in the dressing room. He described every player there and told the Zambia players what to do — and especially what not to do. The famous white shirt delivered.”

His most iconic World Cup moment came with Saudi Arabia in 2022, when he masterminded a famous group-stage victory over Argentina despite Lionel Messi giving the eventual champions an early lead.

The World Cup Record: Success in Groups, Never Beyond

Renard will join a select group of managers to have led three different countries at three successive World Cup tournaments when he takes charge of Tunisia against Japan:

His World Cup record, however, carries an important caveat: he is yet to progress past the group stage at a finals. With Morocco in 2018, he exited after three games. With Saudi Arabia in 2022, the famous Argentina win was followed by elimination — though Saudi Arabia did ultimately progress from the group, Renard’s Saudi tenure had included earlier work.

Tunisia represent his opportunity to take the next step.

A Manager In Demand — But Not Always Available

Renard has frequently topped the list when African nations seek a new head coach. The obstacles have typically been availability and, on occasion, financial expectations.

When Ivory Coast looked to reappoint him during the 2023 AFCON — hosted on their own soil, with the team struggling in the group stage under Jean-Louis Gasset — the French Football Federation refused to release him from his contract with the France women’s team.

When Nigeria attempted to recruit him later in 2024, a senior official described his financial demands as “practically outrageous.”

After his first spell with Saudi Arabia, he managed the France women’s national team, reaching the quarter-finals of the 2023 Women’s World Cup and the 2024 Olympics. He returned as Saudi Arabia boss in October 2024, guided them to World Cup qualification, then was dismissed in April 2025.

Tunisia become the fifth African national side he has led, having previously managed Zambia, Morocco, Ivory Coast, Saudi Arabia, and Angola (briefly, in 2010). He also served as assistant to Le Roy with Ghana in 2008.

The Immediate Task: Stopping the Bleeding

Tightening up defensively is Renard’s most urgent priority. The 5-1 defeat to Sweden followed a 5-0 reverse against Belgium in Tunisia’s final pre-tournament warm-up match. That is 10 goals conceded in their last two matches — a pattern that cannot continue.

Lamouchi acknowledged his side made “way too many mistakes” in Monterrey. Renard, who is known throughout his career as a disciplinarian, has taken a characteristically direct tone with his new squad.

“I just told them we have to hold our heads high. You’re here to represent the country, Tunisia. It’s an honour, it’s a duty. We owe it to ourselves to do much better.”

His familiarity with Japan — having faced them in World Cup qualifiers during his time with Saudi Arabia — provides a specific advantage as he prepares for Sunday’s match. He will draw on that knowledge of how Japan play, how they press, and how they can be disrupted.

Can He Do It?

The odds are not straightforward. Tunisia need to recover from a heavy opening defeat against opponents of Sweden’s quality, then navigate matches against Japan and the Netherlands. Progressing requires points from at least one of those remaining games, and probably both.

What Renard brings is certainty of purpose, tactical intelligence developed across a career spanning multiple continents and competitions, and a demonstrated ability to galvanise squads quickly. His Saudi Arabia example — organising a team to defeat World Cup champions Argentina — is not ancient history. It was three years ago.

He has also shown, in his comments after appointment, that the expectation management is already being handled carefully: this is a “challenge that isn’t easy” but one he finds “motivating.” Not the language of a man expecting miracles, but of one who intends to deliver a professional response.

If he can guide Tunisia to the knockout stage — something they have never achieved at a World Cup — it would be another remarkable chapter in one of coaching football’s most extraordinary life stories: from cleaning flats in south-east France at 2:30 in the morning to engineering World Cup revival acts on the global stage.

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