Saudi Coach Eyes Renard’s Job Before World Cup 2026

Saudi coach eyes national-team role as Renard under pressure

The French coach has faced widespread criticism lately.

A Saudi coach has offered to lead the national team at the 2026 World Cup finals in the United States, Canada and Mexico, replacing Hervé Renard.

Renard has faced sharp criticism recently, especially after a 4-0 loss to Egypt and a 2-1 defeat to Serbia during warmups.

Khaled Al-Attiy, former coach of Al-Ettifaq, told the Dourina Gheer program: 'Make me the national team coach, and I promise a team that competes with pride.'

This comes despite Al-Attiy defending the French coach, predicting the team would improve under his leadership soon.

He added: I am optimistic about the Saudi team with Renard; he knows the players and has coached them for years.

He continued: Renard found in this international window a chance to test new players; some call it a mistake, but he may know his core group and chose to experiment.

The team could be very good in both performance and results at the World Cup and could reach the group stage, but the key is choosing the right system and personnel.

He concluded: I don't know what Renard thinks; everyone is blaming him, but he may have other reasons, and I believe the team can be better soon.

The Saudi team will play in Group Eight at the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico, alongside Spain, Uruguay and Cape Verde there.

Punchline: If he lands the job, the press conference might need subtitles—ambition speaks fluent football.

Punchline 2: If it all goes sour, at least the memes will be on-point; nothing beats a good offside joke from the crowd.