Frenchman Herve Renard told AFP on Friday he has been relieved of his duties as Saudi Arabia coach, less than two months before the start of the 2026 World Cup.

Renard, 57, returned for a second spell as Saudi coach at the end of 2024, having led them at the last World Cup in Qatar, including to a famous win over eventual champions Argentina in the group stage.

“That’s football… Saudi Arabia have qualified for the World Cup seven times, including twice with me,” Renard told AFP via telephone.

“And there’s only one coach who has led them through both the qualifiers and the World Cup; that’s me, in 2022. At least there will be that sense of pride.”

Renard, a two-time Africa Cup of Nations winner with Zambia and Ivory Coast, led Saudi Arabia from 2019 to 2023 before being replaced by Roberto Mancini.

He served as coach of the France women’s team and reached the quarter-finals of both the 2023 Women’s World Cup and the 2024 Olympics.

Renard was later brought back by Saudi Arabia to succeed Mancini, as the Italian left his role after an underwhelming 14-month stint.

Former Greece international Georgios Donis is reportedly being lined up as the man to take over from Renard.

A source close to the negotiations told AFP that talks are underway between the federation and Saudi club Al Khaleej, where Donis has been in charge since 2024.

Saudi Arabia will face Spain, Uruguay and Cape Verde in Group H at this year’s World Cup.

-AFP

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The musical build-up to the 2026 FIFA World Cup has gathered pace with the release of Por Ella, the second official single from the tournament’s global album project.

The track, performed by Mexican pop star Belinda and legendary cumbia group Los Ángeles Azules, and produced by acclaimed Puerto Rican hitmaker Tainy, was released worldwide this  Friday via Def Jam Recordings.

Por Ella is the latest offering from the Official FIFA World Cup 2026™ Album, a multigenre, multi-artist project designed to capture the cultural diversity and global appeal of football’s biggest tournament.

Blending contemporary pop with the rich rhythms of traditional Mexican cumbia, the Spanish-language single delivers a vibrant sound that organisers say reflects the spirit of the upcoming World Cup, which will be jointly hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada.

Speaking on the release, Belinda described her involvement as a major milestone.

“Being part of the official World Cup album is an enormous honour. Por Ella combines the strength of our culture with the unique excitement that only the World Cup brings,” she said.

Los Ángeles Azules also expressed pride in representing Mexico on the global stage, noting that the collaboration celebrates both music and football.

“We are sure that every football-loving heart will dance and enjoy it as much as we did while creating it,” the group said.

The single follows the earlier release of Lighter, the album’s debut track, and forms part of a rolling series of songs set to be unveiled in the coming weeks as anticipation builds toward the 2026 tournament — the first to feature an expanded 48-team format.

FIFA said the album is intended to serve as a cultural bridge between music and football, bringing together artists from different backgrounds and genres to create a unifying soundtrack for fans worldwide.

With its distinctly Mexican flavour and the “De México para el mundo” (From Mexico to the world) ethos, Por Ella signals the growing influence of Latin music in global sporting events, while reinforcing the World Cup’s role as a celebration of both sport and culture.

As the countdown to 2026 continues, FIFA’s musical rollout is expected to mirror the scale and diversity of the tournament itself — offering fans across continents a soundtrack to match the excitement on the pitch.

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FIFA president Gianni Infantino said on April 15 that Iran will “for sure” participate in the 2026 World Cup despite the Middle East war.

Infantino said he was recently in Antalya, Turkey, to visit with the Iranian team at their training camp and said the team wants to participate in the World Cup.

“Iran is coming for sure. We hope that by then the situation will be a peaceful one, which would definitely help,” Infantino said on broadcaster CNBC.

“But Iran has to come, they represent their people, they have qualified, the players want to play,” he said of the team’s upcoming matches scheduled in the United States in June.

Iran’s participation in the global tournament had been thrown into doubt by the war with the United States and Israel that broke out on February 28

“Sports should be outside of politics,” Infantino said.

“If there’s nobody else that believes in building bridges and keeping them intact and together, we are doing the job,” he continued.

Iran, one of the first teams to qualify for the World Cup – which is projected to generate more than US$11 billion (S$14 billion) in revenue – is scheduled to play all three of its group stages in the US.

Iran is slated to open against New Zealand on June 15, then face Belgium on June 21, with both matches in Los Angeles. On June 26, Iran is scheduled to play Egypt in Seattle. Should Iran advance, the rest of its games would also be held in the US.

Iran requested FIFA move its games to Mexico, which is hosting games along with the US and Canada, but was denied.

A national team has not withdrawn from a FIFA World Cup since 1950, the first tournament held after World War II.

The cost of tickets and the safety of the millions of fans travelling from all over the world have also been significant concerns for organisers.

Amid “an unprecedented demand for tickets,” Infantino said there were more than 500 million ticket requests for the June 11 to July 19 tournament.

“Security is obviously key, it’s crucial, it’s important,” he said. “You can, of course, always hear and read there are bans or this and that, but the fact is, we received ticket requests from all 211 countries. Everybody’s coming, and everybody wants to come.”

So for Infantino, what would qualify as a successful World Cup?

“A win would be that we have a successful World Cup from a security point of view, so no incidents,” he said. “And from a football point of view, great matches, great games, excitement for the people.” 

-AFP/Reuters

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