Herve Renard Confirms Tunisia Exit After 2026 World Cup

Herve Renard has made his Tunisia mission sound brutally simple: World Cup or nothing.

The French coach confirmed he will step down after the 2026 World Cup, revealing that his contract with the Carthage Eagles runs only until the end of the tournament and will not be extended beyond June.

“I’ve come for a World Cup mission,” Renard told ESPN on Monday. “I have not signed beyond that.”

Renard arrived in the wake of a humiliation. Tunisia had just been dismantled 5-0 by Belgium, a result that forced a change and opened the door for the well-travelled tactician to replace Sabri Lamouchi. He was hired as a fixer, a specialist for tournament football, not as a long-term architect.

The early signs have been harsh. A defeat to Japan on Saturday confirmed Tunisia’s elimination after just two matches, underlining the scale of the rebuild Renard inherited and the size of the task he has willingly limited to a single cycle.

There is no safety net, no rolling extension quietly waiting in the background. No plans are on the table to prolong his stay. Renard will lead Tunisia to 2026, then walk away, judged entirely on what happens on the game’s biggest stage.