How Herve Renard’s inspiring rise to the top can benefit France at the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023

Herve Renard knows exactly what it takes to reach the top.

Having enjoyed a lengthy stint as a professional footballer himself, the France boss had to take a step back before realising his dreams in coaching.

After retiring from playing in 1998, the 54-year-old began to understand that he needed an extra source of income if he was to pursue his coaching qualifications.

That led him to the cleaning business, where Renard would wake up in the early hours of the morning to take out bins and clean blocks of flats – all while developing his budding coaching career at SC Draguignan.

“I woke up at 2:30 in the morning, finished around noon and then left at 5pm for training at Draguignan,” he told BBC back in 2019.

“We trained and I’d return around 9pm to eat and then go to bed at 11pm. That was the rhythm of life for eight years.”

READ MORE: How will France fare under new boss Renard?

Renard showed great resilience and discipline to achieve his goals, and it began with an assistant role coach alongside legendary manager Claude Le Roy at Shanghai Cosco.

The pair then spent a short spell at Cambridge United, with Renard eventually taking over the reins and being deemed a transformational figure during his time at Abbey Stadium.

His ventures eventually led to a two-year stint with the Zambian national team, where he really developed his knack for international football.

Over the years, he became the first manager to win the Africa Cup of Nations with two different nations – first with Zambia in 2012, and the second coming just three years later with Ivory Coast in 2015.

Renard had a handful of club spells after that, but in 2016 he was appointed Morocco boss and hasn’t looked back from the world stage since. This included leading Saudi Arabia for four years, amost recently during Qatar 2022 where they handed a shock defeat to eventual champions Argentina.

Shortly after, just four months away from their own World Cup, the France women’s national team came knocking, and the lure of managing his homeland saw him seize the opportunity.

The French team have struggled to realise their potential of late, but Renard is a breath of fresh air for them – instilling new ideas, and enforcing his work ethic and resilient nature.

Though they’ve had little time to prepare, there is a clear shift in energy in the set-up, with the likes of Eugenie Le Sommer returning after two years on the sidelines.

"During the past maybe they didn't realise exactly what their level was. They have to understand there is no team better than them,” Renard said.

"You have to believe in yourself and if this team believes in itself, they will do a fantastic World Cup."