Rudi Garcia named Belgium coach, a first for a Frenchman

The former OM coach, appointed Friday, finds a place on a bench, fourteen months after his ouster from Naples (Serie A).

A first for a Frenchman. Rudi Garcia, who notably coached Lille, Marseille, Lyon and AS Roma, will be the new coach of Belgium, the Belgian Football Federation (RBFA) announced on Friday January 24. He replaces Domenico Tedesco, whose dismissal was recorded last week, against a backdrop of crisis for the Red Devils, eliminated in the round of 16 of the last Euro. His first and major mission at the head of the 8th nation in the Fifa ranking will be qualification for the final phase of the 2026 World Cup.

“Welcome, Rudy”writes the RBFA in a press release, saying “proud to announce that Rudi Garcia has been appointed as the new federal coach of the Red Devils”. The 60-year-old Frenchman, who has never taken charge of a selection, must be presented to the press at midday in Tubize, south of Brussels, where the RBFA has its training center. Rudi Garcia, who began his coaching career at Saint-Etienne in 2001, was free from any commitment for fourteen months and the end of his short collaboration with Naples.