Video shows Saudi coach's half-time tirade in match against Argentina, not Indonesia

"The atmosphere of the Saudi Arabian dressing room after losing to King Indo," reads Indonesian text overlaid on a TikTok video shared on November 20, 2024.

Additional text overlay -- purportedly a translation of Renard's remarks -- says the coach was upset about his squad's performance against Indonesian player Marselino Ferdinan.

The video shows Renard shouting as he paces around the locker room, gesturing dramatically with his hands.

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Screenshot of false post, captured on November 26, 2024

The video racked up more than two million views in similiar TikTok posts here, here and here.

Indonesia stunned Saudi Arabia 2-0 in Jakarta on November 19 to boost their unlikely hopes of reaching the World Cup in North America in 2026 (archived link).

Some TikTok users appeared to believe the video showed Renard berating plays after that match.

"One of Indonesia's blessings, besides the victory, is that when they lose, STY and Mr. Erick are never seen like this with the team," one commented, referring to Indonesia's coach Shin Tae-yong and Erick Thohir, chairman of Football Association of Indonesia.

"Still better than coach Roberto Mancini," another wrote, referring to the former Saudi coach who he left in October after 14 months due to poor results. 

Qatar World Cup

Keyword searches on Google found a longer version of the video posted on the Saudi football team's official X account on November 25, 2022 (archived link).

"November 22, 2022. An unforgettable day #BehindTheScenes_Green," the Arabic-language post read.

That day, Saudi Arabia pulled a shock come-from-behind victory against South American football powerhouse Argentina at the World Cup in Qatar. 

Below is a screenshot comparison between the false post and the original video from the Saudi Arabia National Team:

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Screenshot comparison of false post (left) and video from official X account of Saudi Arabia's National Team (right)

The clip in false posts can be seen from the 6:22 timestamp of the Saudi football team's video.

In the video, Renard expresses frustration with the Saudi squad for failing to mark Argentinian superstar Messi on the field.

He urged players to concentrate and keep moving, believing that they can make a comeback in the opening World Cup match against Argentina.

"What are we doing here? Saleh [Saudi player], this is our pressing? Our pressing does not mean you will go high! Marking! Last time, Messi, at the middle of the pitch, he has the ball, you stay in front of the defence!" he said (archived link).

Renard's fiery talk -- in which he did not mention Indonesia -- was reported by news media which said it occurred during the half-time break as Saudi Arabia trailed 0-1 to Argentina (archived link).

The Green Falcons bounced back from conceding an early Messi penalty to produce one of the greatest World Cup shocks, thanks to a Saleh Al-Shehri equaliser and a sublime Salem Al-Dawsari winner at the Lusail Stadium in Doha (archived link).

AFP also debunked previous misinformation related to World Cup 2026 Asian Qualifiers here, here and here.