Wendie Renard is a French professional footballer who plays as a captain in both Division 1 Féminine club Lyon and the France national team. She is a center-back player. Being one of the most decorated players in modern women’s club football she has won 14 French league titles and eight European Cups.
Renard was born on July 20 1990 in Martinique, a French island in the Lesser Antilles. She is the youngest in the family of four daughters. Her father died of lung cancer when she was eight years old. Renard played for Essor-Préchotain on her home island prior to moving to the mainland,
When she was 15, she came to mainland France for a trial at Clairefontaine but was git rejected in the national training program. She later took the train to Lyon and, after a more successful trial, got down a spot with Olympique Lyonnais. At the age of sixteen she left Martinique to permanently live in Lyon.
Renard joined Lyon 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 trophies. In 2010, Renard featured in the final match of the UEFA Women’s Champions League and, in the 2010–11 edition, helped Lyon win the competition. She scored the opening goal in a 2–0 win over Turbine Potsdam in the final.
On 26 August 2020, she scored the winning goal in a 1–0 win against Paris Saint-Germain in the 2019–20 UEFA Women’s Champions League semi-finals, to finally win the competition for the seventh time in her 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 in a match against Switzerland. Renard has since represented France in two FIFA Women’s World Cups and two Olympics, and was the team captain from September 2013.
At the 2019 World Cup on home ground, Renard scored three goals in the group stage: a brace against South Korea and a penalty against Nigeria. She also scored an own goal against Norway. 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 is in charge. After Diacre was sacked in early March 2023, Renard said she was open to a return to the team if selected.