SportsCatch
EN

Renard named emergency coach in Tunisia, Verdez launches scathing attack on RTL

Called in after Tunisia's 5-1 thrashing by Sweden at the 2026 World Cup, Hervé Renard faces fierce criticism from journalist Gilles Verdez, who says he has "no respect" for the new coach.

1 min read
Renard named emergency coach in Tunisia, Verdez launches scathing attack on RTL
Share

Hervé Renard took over Tunisia in the midst of the 2026 World Cup, named in emergency after the Eagles of Carthage suffered a heavy defeat to Sweden (5-1) in their opening match. The Tunisian Federation removed Sabri Lamouchi after just the first game to call on the French coach, who has a strong reputation on the African continent.

Renard’s appointment is not unanimous. On Thursday on RTL, journalist Gilles Verdez leveled a particularly harsh criticism at the new coach. “Hervé Renard who shamefully took Lamouchi’s place. Him, really… He’s the worst of them all. I have no respect for Hervé Renard,” he said.

Verdez was apparently referring to Renard’s controversial spell as head coach of the French women’s team, which he left after the Bleues’ elimination in the quarter-finals of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, to join Saudi Arabia. “I didn’t have much respect for him for many reasons, but now it’s over,” he added.

The journalist also pointed to the responsibility of the Tunisian Federation, which chose to sack Lamouchi after just one competitive match—a decision he also judges questionable.

Renard, for his part, is already at work and is targeting a first result on June 21 against Japan. Tunisia, despite this catastrophic start to the tournament, mathematically retains its chances of qualification.

Share
{# Sitewide native fullscreen interstitial — our own bet-CTA card blown up to a takeover (replaces the SDK overlay). The shared card animations + countdown load once, AFTER the interstitial markup, so the countdown script's first tick sees this card's node too (the in-read card, in
above, already exists). One include covers both surfaces. #}