Africa-Press. French coach Hervé Renard, the current head coach of Saudi Arabia, acknowledged receiving two offers from African national teams before returning to lead the “Green Falcons” for a second spell starting in October 2024.
Renard (57) confirmed that he entered talks to coach Senegal, champions of the most recent Africa Cup of Nations, as well as Nigeria, but the negotiations collapsed before any agreement was reached.
He said: “The conditions were not right to lead Senegal, even though I wanted to take on that challenge.” Pape Thiaw later took charge of the “Lions of Teranga.”
He added: “As for Nigeria, I felt my chances of successfully steering the team to qualify for the 2026 World Cup were very limited,” which was borne out when the “Super Eagles” were knocked out in the African playoff by the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Back to Africa
Renard stressed that he will return to work in Africa again, especially since he achieved major successes on the continent—most notably winning the Africa Cup of Nations twice: with Zambia in 2012 and Côte d’Ivoire in 2015.
He said: “I don’t know when it will happen, and I don’t know where. If a well-organized federation presents a strong sporting project, that could interest me. Money is not the first criterion and never has been. I feel comfortable in Africa and I will go back there one day,” noting that he owns a home in Senegal.
Renard’s Morocco experience
At the same time, Renard praised his time as Morocco’s head coach from February 2016 to July 2019, during which he led the “Atlas Lions” to the 2018 World Cup in Russia—their first appearance since France 1998.
Speaking about that stint, Renard said: “I can say that 90% of what I take from that period is positive. I worked with a strong federation president (Fouzi Lekjaa) who did a lot to develop football in his country by providing excellent infrastructure and a highly professional framework.”
He added: “I contributed to the national team’s rise and led it to the 2018 World Cup for the first time in 20 years, and I gave opportunities to players like Achraf Hakimi, Youssef En-Nesyri, and others. Today Morocco are among the top 10 to 15 national teams in the world. I’m very proud to have been part of this project.”
Renard is now preparing to lead Saudi Arabia at the 2026 World Cup, which will be the French coach’s third consecutive World Cup appearance after 2018 with Morocco and 2022 with Saudi Arabia.
The draw placed Saudi Arabia in Group H alongside Spain, Uruguay, and Cape Verde.
