Wendie Thérèse Renard (born 20 July 1990) is a French professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

and

captains Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

both

Division 1 Féminine The Division 1 Féminine, shortened as D1 Féminine or D1F, and currently known as D1 Arkema for sponsorship reasons, is the highest division of women's football in France. Run by the French Football Federation, the league is contested by twel ...

club

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

and the France national team. Renard is one of the most decorated players in modern women's club football. She has won a record 14 French league titles and eight European Cups. In 2019, the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' described her as an "institution" at Lyon, the most successful club in European women's football.

Early life

Renard was born in

Martinique Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago: or ) is an island and an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of the French Republic, Martinique is located in th ...

, a French island in the

Lesser Antilles The Lesser Antilles ( es, link=no, Antillas Menores; french: link=no, Petites Antilles; pap, Antias Menor; nl, Kleine Antillen) are a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea. Most of them are part of a long, partially volcanic island arc betwe ...

. She is the youngest of four daughters. Her father died of lung cancer when she was eight years old. Prior to moving to the

mainland Mainland is defined as "relating to or forming the main part of a country or continent, not including the islands around it egardless of status under territorial jurisdiction by an entity" The term is often politically, economically and/or dem ...

, Renard played for

Essor-Préchotain Essor-Préchotain is a football club of Martinique, based in the northwestern town Le Prêcheur Le Prêcheur (; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Pwéchè) is a village and commune in the French overseas department, region and island of Martiniq ...

on her home island. When she was 15, Renard flew to mainland France for a trial at Clairefontaine but was not accepted into the national training program. She subsequently took the train to

and, after a more successful trial, landed a spot with

Olympique Lyonnais Olympique Lyonnais (), commonly referred to as simply Lyon () or OL, is a men and women's French professional football club based in Lyon in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. The men play in France's highest football division, Ligue 1. Founded in 1950, th ...

. She left Martinique to permanently live in Lyon at the age of sixteen.

Club career

Renard joined

in 2006 and, since the 2007–08 season, has been a regular within the starting eleven winning fourteen consecutive league titles from 2006 to 2020, as well numerous

Challenge de France Challenge may refer to: * Voter challenging or caging, a method of challenging the registration status of voters * Euphemism for disability * Peremptory challenge, a dismissal of potential jurors from jury duty Places Geography *Challenge, C ...

trophies. In 2010, Renard featured in the final match of the

UEFA Women's Champions League The UEFA Women's Champions League, previously called the UEFA Women's Cup (2001–2009), is a European women's association football competition. It involves the top club teams from countries affiliated with the European governing body UEFA. The ...

and, in the 2010–11 edition, helped Lyon win the competition. She scored the opening goal in a 2–0 win over

Turbine Potsdam 1. Frauenfußballclub Turbine Potsdam 71 e. V., commonly known as 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam (or Turbine Potsdam outside of Germany), is a German women's football club located in Potsdam, Brandenburg. They are one of the most successful women's footb ...

the final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

. On 26 August 2020, she scored the winning goal in a 1–0 win against

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris, Paris SG or simply PSG is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. As Fr ...

in the

2019–20 UEFA Women's Champions League The 2019–20 UEFA Women's Champions League was the 19th edition of the European women's club football championship organised by UEFA, and the 11th edition since being rebranded as the UEFA Women's Champions League. The competition was postponed ...

semi-finals, to eventually win the competition for the seventh time in her career.

International career

Renard is a former women's youth international having played at under-19 and under-20 level. She made her debut for the France women's national team at the

2011 Cyprus Cup The 2011 Cyprus Women's Cup was the fourth edition of the Cyprus Women's Cup, an invitational women's football tournament held annually in Cyprus. Format The twelve invited teams were split into three groups that played a round-robin tournament. ...

in a match against

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. Renard has since represented France in two

FIFA Women's World Cup The FIFA Women's World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the senior women's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association ( FIFA), the sport's international governing bo ...

s and two

Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

, and was the team

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

from September 2013. She was stripped of the captaincy after the Euro 2017 tournament and was ultimately succeeded by Amandine Henry. Renard regained the captaincy in September 2021. At the 2019 World Cup on home soil, Renard scored three goals in the group stage: a brace against

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

and a penalty against

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

. She also scored an own goal against

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. Renard scored a consolation goal in France's 2–1 quarter-final defeat to the United States. The 6 foot 2 inch-tall defender was the tallest player at that edition of the World Cup. On 24 February 2023, Renard announced she would not play at the World Cup later that year to "preserve her mental health". According to a report in French multimedia outlet RMC Sport, Renard has decided not play for the national team as long as coach

Corinne Diacre Corinne Catherine Diacre (born 4 August 1974) is a French professional football manager and former player who played as a defender. She played her entire club career with Soyaux in the Division 1. She was also an international player with th ...

is in charge.

Style of play

Renard is physically strong, has good pace and technique, and she is capable of scoring powerful headers.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

Honours

Lyon *

: 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2021–22 *

Coupe de France The Coupe de France, formerly known as the Coupe Charles Simon, is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation (FFF). It was first held in 1917 and is open to all amateur and profession ...

: 2007–08, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2018–19, 2019–20 *

: 2010–11, 2011–12, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2021–22 *

Trophée des Championnes The Trophée des Championnes is a French women's association football trophy contested as an annual match between the champions of Division 1 Féminine and the winners of the Coupe de France Féminine from previous season. It is the female equ ...

: 2019,

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

France *

Cyprus Cup The Cyprus Women's Cup is a global invitational tournament for national teams in women's association football. It has been held annually in Cyprus since 2008. Although the competition takes place in Cyprus, the hosts have yet to take part in t ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

SheBelieves Cup The SheBelieves Cup is an invitational women's soccer tournament held in different cities in the United States in late February or early March. In its first three years (2016, 2017 and 2018), it was contested by the same four teams: the United ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

Individual * UEFA Women's Championship All-Star Team:

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

* FIFA Women's World Cup All Star Team:

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

* FIFA Women's World Cup Dream Team:

* FIFPro: FIFA FIFPro World XI

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

, 2020, 2021,

* IFFHS Women's World Team: 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 * UEFA Champions League Defender of the Season: 2019–20 * IFFHS World's Woman Team of the Decade 2011–2020 * IFFHS UEFA Woman Team of the Decade 2011–2020 Orders * Knight of the National Order of Merit: 2022

References

External links

Club profile
* * * *
StatsFootoFeminin profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Renard, Wendie 1990 births Living people People from Schœlcher French women's footballers Martiniquais women's footballers French people of Martiniquais descent Black French sportspeople Women's association football central defenders France women's youth international footballers France women's international footballers Olympic footballers of France 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup players Footballers at the 2012 Summer Olympics 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup players Footballers at the 2016 Summer Olympics 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup players FIFA Century Club Division 1 Féminine players Olympique Lyonnais Féminin players UEFA Women's Euro 2022 players UEFA Women's Euro 2017 players