Saudi Arabia men’s national team head coach Hervé Renard is expected to take over as coach of the France women’s national team, according to a report from ESPN on Tuesday. France’s former coach, Corinne Diacre, was fired earlier this month after several players expressed their discontent with her.
Renard is coming off of a run at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar in which he coached Saudi Arabia to a 2-1 win over eventual champions Argentina in the group stage. Saudi Arabia finished at the bottom of Group C with three points and was eliminated but Renard was kept on as Saudi Arabia’s head coach, a position he accepted in 2019. He last coached Saudi Arabia in the Gulf Cup on Jan. 12.
Renard will now return to France, where he was born and where he coached in Ligue 1 with Sochaux (2013-14) and Lille (2015). France will be the fifth national he’s coached in his career but the first women’s national team. In addition to Saudi Arabia, Renard also previously coached Zambia, Ivory Coast and Morocco.
The France women’s national team — ranked fifth in the world by FIFA — has yet to officially announce Renard as its new head coach. France’s next match is a friendly against Colombia on April 7.