Herve Renard has been parachuted into the FIFA World Cup to help save Tunisia’s tournament as their new manager.
After losing 5-1 to Sweden in their opening game, the Tunisian Football Federation (TFF) took the drastic decision to sack Sabri Lamouchi from his position.
The former Nottingham Forest and Cardiff City boss had only taken on the job this year, signing a two-and-a-half year contract in January.
Lamouchi oversaw just one win in his five games in charge of the Eagles of Carthage before getting the sack on Monday.
Herve Renard returns as Tunisia hire manager mid-World Cup
The TFF moved quickly to replace the Frenchman with one of his compatriots as they turned to veteran coach Renard, whose first job in management came with Cambridge United in 2004.
The 57-year-old has signed on to become the north African nation’s manager until the end of the World Cup.
Renard has extensive experience in international football, having managed at three different World Cups. He led Morocco to their first World Cup in 20 years when they qualified for Russia 2018 and guided Saudi Arabia to a shock win over Argentina in their opening at Qatar 2022.
Renard also managed France at the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2023, overseeing a run to the quarter-finals. He also guided Zambia and Ivory Coast to AFCON glory in 2012 and 2015 respectively.
The ex-defender was meant to be managing Saudi Arabia at this summer’s tournament in his second spell in charge of The Green Falcons. But he was shockingly sacked in April, just two months out from their opening game against Uruguay, which they drew 1-1 in Miami on Monday.
