Despite helping Cristiano Ronaldo break his trophy drought at Al Nassr, Kingsley Coman will be missing the 2026 World Cup. Kingsley Coman emerged as one of Cristiano Ronaldo’s most dynamic partners during the 2025-26 season, playing a fundamental role in Al Nassr lifting the Saudi Pro League title. However, despite his pivotal contributions to the Saudi side, Coman will be notably absent from the 2026 World Cup.
Determined to break Ronaldo’s trophy drought, Al Nassr made waves in the summer transfer window, landing Kingsley Coman from Bayern Munich as a marquee signing. With Sadio Mane anchoring the left wing, Coman was deployed on the right flank, quickly establishing himself as one of the league’s brightest stars in his debut campaign.
Across all competitions, Coman racked up 16 goals and 12 assists over 41 appearances with Al Nassr, finishing the year as the team’s third-highest scorer and second-best playmaker. The only players to surpass his goal tally were Cristiano Ronaldo (30) and Joao Felix (26), both of whom occupied central attacking roles rather than playing out wide, adding extra merit to the Frenchman’s stellar production.
Why isn’t Coman playing in the 2026 World Cup?
Coman’s absence from the 2026 World Cup comes down to a strict tactical decision by manager Didier Deschamps. Despite Coman’s elite form throughout the 2025-26 club season, the France boss first dropped him during the November international break, and the winger hasn’t featured for Les Bleus since.
Sagiv Yehezkel of Israel runs with the ball under pressure from Kingsley Coman of France.
A primary driver behind the exclusion is France’s youth movement on the flanks. With Desire Doue and Michael Olise emerging as bona fide breakout sensations over the last few seasons, Deschamps opted to round out his winger depth with younger talent like Bradley Barcola, Rayan Cherki, and Maghnes Akliouche, ultimately freezing Coman out of the rotation.
Coman’s declining minutes and friction behind the scenes also played a major factor. L’Equipe reported back in 2024 that after logging just 15 minutes during the Euros in Germany, Coman had a “miserable experience” that led him to seriously consider retiring from international duty entirely.
After being left out of the UEFA Nations League Final Four in June 2025, Coman did briefly return to the national team for the September and October international windows, appearing against Iceland and Azerbaijan during World Cup qualifying. Ultimately, those performances failed to sway Deschamps, leaving the veteran winger off France’s final World Cup roster.