On Tuesday, the Champions League made its comeback. Football lovers were able to wait all day following the announcement of the nominees in the different categories for the trophies awarded by France Football. The most anticipated of all was that concerning the 30 nominated for the 2026 Ballon d’Or. Unsurprisingly, Kylian Mbappé, Lionel Messi, Rodri, Lamine Yamal, Harry Kane and even Michael Olise were cited. Same thing for Paris Saint-Germain, the most represented club with 10 players on the list. But there were also some surprises. The presence of Sadio Mané and Julian Quiñones made some people jump.
Doué and Barcola are missing
Same thing regarding certain absences. In Catalonia, some voices have been raised to denounce the fact that Raphinha, Pedri and Dani Olmo are missing. In France, it was especially the absences of Désiré Doué and Bradley Barcola which caused ink to flow. The two players notably won Ligue 1 and the Champions League with Paris Saint-Germain, while participating in the World Cup with the Blues with whom they finished in fourth place. But that wasn’t enough to make the list. RMC Sport mentioned these two notable absences.
“Two absences which will make Parisian supporters cringe. Winners of the Champions League for the second consecutive year last spring, Désiré Doué and Bradley Barcola, who also won Ligue 1 with PSG and reached the semi-final of the World Cup in the jersey of the France team, do not appear in the list of 30 nominated for the 2026 Ballon d’or. So Foot also believes that these choices will get people talking. “Among the nominees, no big surprises apart from the absences of Désiré Doué and Bradley Barcola, who will be able to host undoubtedly fascinating debates in the coming days.”
Choices that get people talking
This is the case of everyday life West France. “Nine players (not counting Ferran Torres, editor’s note), but no traces of Désiré Doué, nor of Bradley Barcola. The two friends, often swapped by Luis Enrique last season, certainly showed irregularity, but they also won Ligue 1 and reached the semi-final of the World Cup with the France team, playing their role each time. But from a purely statistical point of view, the two men are certainly paying for their lack of effectiveness in the Champions League. Doué, 14th for the Ballon d’Or in 2025, for example did not score after the quarter-final return. For its part, Barcola did not manage to shake the net after the eighth of the UCL. In an individual ranking, this is paid in cash.”
Despite everything, the media wonders: “among the thirty candidates for the supreme award, we note for example the presence of Julian Quinones, surprise guest of this closed circle, even if the Mexican finished top scorer in the Saudi championship. Not sure either that the presence of Senegalese Sadio Mané in the 30, also exiled in Saudi Arabia, will be unanimous among observers and football fans. Some names, however, are not there.” For his part, Vincent Garcia, editor-in-chief of FFtook his pen in The Team to provide some elements that could explain these two absences.
France Football justifies their absences
“Exit Désiré Doué who often shared the light and statistics with Bradley Barcola. Their status as interchangeable, both in club and with the Blues, and their lack of regularity over the whole of a season where good periods followed one another and spells on the bench, did not help their individual results. On Xmany PSG fans stepped up to the plate. “Julian Quinones named, Désiré Doué and Barcola out…. a scandal »launched one of them. Others spoke of “shame” and of “scandal” regarding the absence of Doué. France Football gave some answers. “Everyone sent their list of nominees in each category. And then we had to count and then meet after the World Cup final to decide, because there are inevitably debates when a player approaches the red zone of 50% of the votes.
In the show Greg’s Teamthe journalist of FFOlivier Bossard, also clarified: “Barcola had very few votes, while Désiré Doué it was almost 50-50. Désiré Doué finishes 31st or 32nd in this list, he is just behind. Until the end some tried to get him in (within 30). But those who did not bring him in ultimately felt that the competition had worked against him, particularly the competition with Barcola. Sometimes it was Barcola, sometimes it was him. In the French team, we had the impression that Doué was starting in front, but finally at the last moment Barcola was better and more used by Deschamps (…) You have to be striking to be in this list and we felt that he had been less so than the season before and that he had had a little difficulty digesting. The message got through.
