Based on recent Saudi press reports, it seems that the Board of Directors of the Saudi Football Federation has made a decision to terminate the mission of the French Hervé Renard, amidst widespread demands from fans and media to change the technical staff to save the team's journey to the World Cup 2026.
As for the coach who will succeed him, the most prominent speculations suggest that the closest option is a coach from within the Saudi league to ensure familiarity with the nature of the local player, especially as the global tournament is less than six months away.
The final decision has not been officially announced yet, but fan pressure after exiting the semi-finals of the Arab Cup is accelerating the federation’s steps towards appointing a strong replacement to restore confidence to the Green.
Saudi press sources confirmed that there is a direction by the Board of Directors of the Saudi Football Federation to dismiss the French technical director of the Green Hervé Renard from coaching "the Green" and to look for a replacement coach before preparing to participate in the 2026 World Cup finals to be held in America, Canada, and Mexico.
Commenting on the possibility of his dismissal, after failing to reach the finals of the Arab Cup 2025 when asked if he feared dismissal, he answered: "I have a contract and will continue my work, I cannot do anything if someone else wants to do something different, I will continue, but if someone tells me that your job is done I will go elsewhere, this is the life of football".
And the contract of the French coach (57 years old) with the Green lasts until the finals of the Asian Cup 2027.
Regarding the recent loss to the team "Al Nashama," Renard said: "We prepared excellently for the previous Jordan match, and the match statistics are clear, we had ball possession of 69% versus 31% for the opponent, we knew Jordan's strategy and competitor's playing style, we did not succeed defensively and created many chances, thus we did not maintain the score at 0/0 and failed to score."
The Saudi national team lost to its Jordanian counterpart by a clean goal, on the grounds of Al Bayt Stadium, last Monday, in the semi-finals.
The Green team will face the UAE team in a match for the third place, at Khalifa International Stadium, Thursday.
