2026 Masters de Pétanque: Dream Team Wins Final Four in L'Île-Rousse

The 2026 Masters de Pétanque season is complete: the legendary "Dream Team" of Philippe Quintais, Philippe Suchaud, and Henri Lacroix, reunited with Laurent Matraglia, beat Team Rocher 13-8 in the grand final at L'Île-Rousse, Corsica, on 17 September - a record ninth Masters title for Suchaud, a seventh for Lacroix, and a sixth for Quintais, who competed through a health battle. Here is the full schedule, every stage's results, and a complete breakdown of how the Final Four itself played out.

A note on this season: three of the tour's team captains - Dylan Rocher (Team Rocher), Henri Lacroix (Dream Team), and Ligan Doerr (Team Doerr) - are among four French international players facing an ongoing criminal investigation into suspected match-fixing at a 2025 Masters de Pétanque stage. All three deny the allegations, and a trial is scheduled for June 2027; see our explainer on the case for the full picture. Their teams have continued to compete throughout the 2026 season.

What Is the Masters de Pétanque?

Launched as a made-for-television answer to pétanque's need for a recurring, easy-to-follow domestic circuit, the Masters de Pétanque runs across French cities (with one stop in Spain) every summer weekend from June to September. A fixed roster of elite men's triplette teams - each built around a marquee captain - travels to every stage. Points earned at each stage feed a general classification; only the top four teams qualify for a season-ending Final Four. A parallel Masters Féminins circuit runs alongside the men's tour at most stops.

For more on how French domestic pétanque competitions are structured season to season, see our guide to pétanque tournament formats and the official rules of pétanque. For the tour's full history and every champion since 1999, see our Masters de Pétanque history and all-time records.

2026 Schedule

Final Four Qualifiers

General Standings Entering Stage 7

Rognac was a turning point ahead of the finale. Les Étoiles du Sud's semi-final run pushed it to 48 points and an already-clinched Final Four berth, while the Dream Team's second stage win of the season - a 13-4 rout of Doerr in the final - vaulted it from fifth all the way to a tie with Rocher on 36 points. Those same four teams - Les Étoiles du Sud, Bonetto, Dream Team, and Rocher - went on to fill the Nevers semi-finals too, with Zigler and Doerr unable to close the gap at the finale.

Stage-by-Stage Results

Stage 1 - Romans-sur-Isère (3-4 June)

Playing through heavy rain, Les Étoiles du Sud (Yves Rakotoarisoa, Jean-François Rakotondrainibé, Fara N'Diaye, and Marcel Gbetable) opened the tour with a dominant campaign, beating a Ligan Doerr-led team 13-3 in the semi-final before routing Team Zigler 13-0 in the final.

Rakotondrainibé plays under the nickname "Zigle" - not to be confused with Team Zigler, which is captained by a different player, Nelson Zigler, alongside Élie Benmergui, Mayron Baudino, and Mason Durk. Rakotondrainibé is also Madagascar's reigning Precision Shooting World Champion; read more on our Madagascar country profile.

Stage 2 - Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie (24-25 June)

Team Rocher (Dylan Rocher, Stéphane Robineau, and Jean-Michel Puccinelli) won its first stage of the season, beating Team Zigler 13-8 in a final that stayed level at 8-8 before Rocher's side closed it out with a five-point run. In the Masters Féminins event held alongside the men's stage, Valérie Jousse, Frédérique Segret, and Dorine Mesmin won 13-4.

Stage 3 - Montluçon (15-16 July)

Team Bonetto (Mickaël Bonetto) beat Team Rocher 13-7 in the final to win its first stage of the tour, after Rocher had eliminated Les Étoiles du Sud 13-4 and Bonetto had beaten the tour's "Dream Team" 13-7 in the semi-finals. In the women's event, France's Angélique Colombet and Anna Maillard beat Malhaury Perrin and Apolline Garrien 13-7.

Stage 4 - Saint-Étienne (22-23 July)

Team Bonetto - now with Ludovic Montoro and Christophe Sarrio alongside Mickaël Bonetto - beat Les Étoiles du Sud 13-3 in the final, after Bonetto survived a 13-11 semi-final against Doerr's team and Les Étoiles du Sud beat Team Zigler 13-6 in the other semi-final. The result vaulted Les Étoiles du Sud to the top of the general standings on points accumulated across the season, even without a stage win at Saint-Étienne itself, while dropping Rocher to third. In the women's event - held for the first time as the Trophée Masters Féminin - Aurélia Blasquez-Ruiz and Elodie Estève beat Cynthia Chastanet and Brenda Hiot 13-10.

Stage 5 - Santa Susanna, Spain (4-5 August)

Les Étoiles du Sud topped their pool, beating Doerr's team 13-4 and completing a comeback from 5-12 down to beat Team Bonetto 13-12, but three missed shots on the final end of the semi-final let Team Zigler in for a 13-9 win. In the other semi-final, the Dream Team - captained by Henri Lacroix, with Philippe Suchaud and Laurent Matraglia standing in for regular member Philippe Quintais - routed Team Bonetto 13-2 to reach its first final of the season, then beat Team Zigler 13-2 in the final for its first stage win of 2026. In the women's event, local Catalan duo Sonia Aguilar and Aïtana Benzal beat Team Croquefer 13-6.

Stage 6 - Rognac (18-19 August)

Team Doerr stunned the Dream Team 13-10 in pool play, but the two sides met again in the final and this time the Dream Team - Henri Lacroix, Philippe Suchaud, and Laurent Matraglia - was overwhelming, opening 5-0 and closing out a 13-4 win for its second stage title of the season. In the semi-finals, the Dream Team had beaten Team Rocher 13-6, while Doerr eliminated Les Étoiles du Sud 13-11. Even in defeat, that semi-final run was enough to push Les Étoiles du Sud to 48 points and confirm its Final Four place with a stage still to spare.

Stage 7 - Nevers (26-27 August)

Team Rocher - Dylan Rocher, Diego Rizzi, and Jean-Michel Puccinelli, with Stéphane Robineau on the bench - closed out the regular season with its second stage win of 2026, beating Les Étoiles du Sud 13-2 in a lopsided final. Rocher reached the final by eliminating the Dream Team 13-6 in the semi-final, while Les Étoiles du Sud got past Team Bonetto 13-8 in the other semi-final. The result confirmed the Final Four field: with Zigler and Doerr unable to break into the Nevers semi-finals, the tour's last four regular-season standing spots and its last four stage semi-finalists ended up being the exact same teams - Les Étoiles du Sud, Bonetto, Dream Team, and Rocher.

Final Four Results (16-17 September, L'Île-Rousse)

The 2026 Final Four - the first time the Masters de Pétanque season finale was held in Corsica - brought together Les Étoiles du Sud (clinched after Stage 6), Rocher (Nevers stage winner), Bonetto, and the Dream Team. Rather than a straight knockout, the men's event used a double-chance bracket: a first-round loser gets a second life in a "joker" match against the other loser, and the winner of that then faces the loser of the winners' match in a decisive barrage for the final's second spot.

Philippe Quintais, Philippe Suchaud, and Henri Lacroix - reunited with Laurent Matraglia - won the title without dropping a match, closing out the final from 4-0 up before Rocher's team, Dylan Rocher with Diego Rizzi and Jean-Michel Puccinelli, clawed back to 8-4. The Dream Team finished it 13-8. It was Suchaud's record ninth Masters de Pétanque title, Lacroix's seventh, and Quintais's sixth - the latter competing while dealing with a health battle.

In the Masters Féminin event that opened the day, Fanja Aubriot and Mouna Beji beat Sabine Fara and Axelle Bernard 13-0 in the final, after eliminating home-crowd favourites Nadia Djabri and Laetitia Canavero of Corsica in the semi-final.

For more from this summer's French domestic season, see our recaps of the 2026 French Pétanque National Championships and Mondial la Marseillaise à Pétanque, and our profile of France's pétanque scene.