Marked by a historic defeat to Saudi Arabia… The story of Renard’s first spell in charge of the Ghana national team

The French newspaper *L'Équipe* had reported that Renard wished to step down as coach of the Saudi national team before the start of the 2026 World Cup, as he felt it would be difficult to achieve success under the current circumstances.

The newspaper noted that the Ghana Football Association is considering signing the French coach to lead the senior team as the successor to Otto Addo, who was sacked from his post this March, less than two and a half months before the start of the World Cup.

Renard began his coaching career in Africa with the Ghana national team itself, specifically between 2007 and 2008, as an assistant to French coach Claude Le Roy, before the entire coaching staff was sacked.

Following that spell, Renard went on to manage four other national teams on the African continent, starting with Zambia, with whom he won the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations, followed by Angola and Côte d’Ivoire, and finally Morocco, whom he led to qualification for the 2018 World Cup.

The French coach began his role as assistant coach to Claude Le Roy with the Ghana national team in July 2007, before leaving in May 2008.

During that period, the Ghana national team played 10 matches, winning six of them (a 60% win rate), whilst suffering three defeats and drawing just once.

Of those ten matches, Ghana played six at the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations on home soil in front of their own fans, finishing with a bronze medal.

The Black Stars topped their group with a perfect record, following victories over Guinea (2-1), Namibia (1-0) and Morocco (2-0), before overcoming Nigeria 2-1 in the quarter-finals.

Leroy and Renard’s Cameroon side lost 1-0 to Cameroon in the semi-finals, but secured the bronze medal after beating Côte d’Ivoire 4-2 in the third-place play-off.

Apart from the African Cup of Nations, the Ghana national team played four friendly matches under the management of Le Roy and Renard, three of which took place before the tournament; they drew 1–1 with Senegal in the first, before beating Morocco 2–0.

However, the third friendly proved to be the worst of Renard’s spell with the Ghana national team, as they suffered a 5-0 defeat to Saudi Arabia on 11 September 2007, in their final friendly before the start of the Africa Cup of Nations.

After the Africa Cup of Nations, Renard played another friendly match with the Ghana national team, losing 2-1 to Mexico, before the entire coaching staff, led by Claude Le Roy, left in May 2008.