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.
The 2026 World Cup will feature several key changes to substitution protocols, highlighted by a strict new 10-second rule enforced on players exiting the pitch. The 2026 World Cup is introducing several rule changes that will affect various aspects of the game. While the number of substitutions per team remains the same as in 2022, a new 10-second substitution rule has been approved that could have a significant impact on how games are managed. Each national team will continue to have five substitutions available per match, a rule that became standard during the COVID-19 period and was subsequently made permanent across soccer’s major competitions given its widespread adoption. Those five substitutions must still be used within three tactical windows during the 90 minutes, a restriction designed to prevent excessive time-wasting. Substitutions made at halftime do not count against a window, giving coaches up to four opportunities throughout a standard match to make their five changes. Additional substitutions are available under specific circumstances. Any player who suffers a head injury and cannot continue will be replaced without that change counting against the original five. An additional substitution and window are also granted if a match goes to extra time, meaning knockout stage games could see up to six substitutions per team, or seven in the event of a concussion during the additional period. Hossein Hosseini of IR Iran is brought in for Alireza Beiranvand against England due to a concussion. The new 10-second substitution rule One of the most significant rule changes approved for the 2026 World Cup governs how quickly substitutions must be completed. The player coming off now has a maximum of 10 seconds to exit the field from the nearest touchline once the substitution is signaled. If that 10-second window is exceeded, the team is penalized. The departing player must still leave the pitch, but the incoming substitute will not be permitted to enter. Instead, the replacement must wait a minimum of 60 seconds on the sideline before being allowed onto the field, leaving the offending team down to ten men for at least that duration. Exceptions exist for situations where a player is injured and requires medical assessment or needs to be stretchered off, as well as any security-related concerns about where a player can safely exit. The latter scenario is unlikely to be a factor at the World Cup. Critically, the 60-second minimum waiting period only begins once the substitution violation is identified, and the replacement cannot enter until play stops. This means that even after the minute has elapsed, the substitute must wait for the next stoppage, potentially leaving their team a man short for significantly longer than 60 seconds. Ojo a esto que pasó hoy en Japón-Islandia.Hlynsson se demoró más de 10 segundos en salir de la cancha y el árbitro aplicó la NUEVA REGLA: Islandia jugó UN MINUTO con uno menos. Y justo ahí fue el gol de Japón. En el Mundial dará que hablar. ⚠️🏆 pic.twitter.com/U90nnF3mxU— Ataque Futbolero (@AtaqueFutbolero) May 31, 2026 The rule was already applied in practice during the international friendly between Japan and Iceland on May 31. When Kristian Hlynsson failed to leave the pitch within the 10-second window during a substitution in the 84th minute, Isak Thorvaldsson was held on the sideline and Iceland were reduced to ten men. Play did not stop for two full minutes, during which Japan capitalized and Koki Ogawa scored the winning goal.
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