Melchie Dumornay makes history with second straight Ballon d’Or nomination
Melchie Daëlle Dumornay has done it again. The 23-year-old forward from Mirebalais has earned a second consecutive nomination for the Ballon d’Or, extending a milestone no Haitian athlete, male or female, had ever reached before her.
France Football unveiled its 30-player shortlist for the 2026 Ballon d’Or Féminin today, and Dumornay’s name appears alongside three of her OL Lyonnes club teammates (Selma Bacha, captain Wendie Renard and summer signing Caroline Weir). It marks the second straight year the Mirebalais native has featured on the list, after finishing 18th in her debut nomination in 2025, a nomination that made her the first Haitian player in the award’s history to be recognized on the sport’s biggest individual stage.
Dumornay’s rise, from a childhood spent playing barefoot in the streets of Mirebalais to the marquee list of the world’s best players, stands out as one of the most significant individual achievements in Haitian sports history.
Dumornay’s nomination arrives on the heels of a standout season for OL Lyonnes. The club swept France’s Arkema Première Ligue, won the first-ever LFFP Cup and captured the Coupe de France, while also reaching the final of the UEFA Women’s Champions League. That domestic sweep helped OL Lyonnes secure its own nomination for Women’s Club of the Year.
Dumornay’s path to the top of women’s football began far from the stadiums of Lyon. Raised by a single mother alongside her brothers and cousins in Mirebalais. She learned to play barefoot against older boys before joining AS Mirebalais and AS Tigresses, according to an account published by Ballon d’Or’s official website.
“I want to provide a better environment for future Haitian talents,” she told Goal in comments cited by Ballon d’Or’s website, adding that she hopes to help more Haitian players reach Europe and to make her country “a good place to play football in general, for both girls and boys.”
Dumornay’s second Ballon d’Or nomination lands good news : a Haitian name written, for a second straight year, among the best players on the planet.
