Top 10 French Football Teams
France has a rich football history and tradition, with the majority of the clubs being more than a hundred or more years old, these clubs survived both the world wars and emerged victorious in saving the beautiful game of football. In the current scenario, many major teams have come up with huge investments which have produced world-class teams and individuals who have taken over the football world, the French national team has also been involved in consecutive finals in the World Cup which proves the overall development in skills, talent and abilities of these clubs and players possess.
The Top Ten Football Clubs In France
1: Paris Saint-Germain
PSG have won 48 trophies making it the highest-place team on this list. This team was founded by Guy Crescent, Pierre-Étienne Guyot and Henri Patrelle in 1970. It is home to the famous 47,929-seater Parc des Princes. The team has won a record 11 league titles including a Ligue 2 title in the second division, 14 Coupe de France titles, 9 Coupe de la Ligue titles and 12 Trophee des champions(highest in France), in the continental category it has won one UEFA’s winners cup and a UEFA Intertoto cup. Their victory in the 1995–96 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup makes PSG the sole French side to have won this trophy, one of only two French clubs to have won a major European competition and they are the youngest European team to achieve this feat.
PSG is now owned by Qatar Sports Investments with Nasser-Al-Kheliaifi as the president and the former Barcelona and Spain legend Luis Enrique as the head coach. This takeover in 2012 proved to be a massive success with the team securing 30 out of the 46 domestic titles after the takeover. The new owner also purchased the 20-year-old Kylian Mbappe in the 2017 season for a record transfer fee of 180 million euros, this proved to be hugely successful as he is now the leading all-time top goal scorer of the club.
In terms of records Jean-Marc Pilorget has the highest amount of appearances with a total of 435 In addition to this the club is also involved in Esports, handball and Judo.
2: Olympique Marseille
Olympique Marseille takes second spot with a total of 27 trophies. It was founded by René Dufaure de Montmirail, a French sports official in 1892 and is known as Sporting Club, US Phocéenne and Football Club de Marseille. In 1899 the club adopted the name Olympique De Marseille in honour of Marseille’s founding by Greeks and Phocaea, with name Olympique coming from the ancient Olympic games. Marseille started with rugby sport and slowly transitioned into football in 1920. The team won its first trophy in Coupe de France in 1924 and won its first league title in 1937. It is also the only club in France to win the UEFA Champions League (in 1993).
OM has a fantastic history of winning 27 trophies, which includes nine league titles, ten Coup de France, three Coupe de la Ligue, two trophies de champions, one Coupe Charles Drago and finally one UEFA Champions League and a UEFA Intertoto Cup. It also had Jean Pierre Papin who won the famous Ballon d’Or trophy for individual performances in 1991 while playing for the team.
The most successful campaign for the club was in Deschamps tenure where they won 6 titles in his 3 years which included one league title, and all three of their Coupe de la Ligue. It is home to the famous 67,394 seater, Stade Vélodrome, which is the 2nd biggest stadium in France in terms of seating capacity. Frank McCourt, the chairman of McCourt Global acquired the club for 45 million euros and pledged to invest 200 million euros in the club for the next 4 years which proved true as the club will go on to spend around 45 million in the next transfer market.
Josip Skoblar has the highest goal-scoring record of the club with 185 goals in 218 games and Matheu Valbeuna has played the highest amount of games which is a total of 330 appearances.
3: Olympiques Lyonnaise
Olympiques Lyonnaise a French football team, situated in the Lyon city of east- Central France takes the third spot on the list. It was formed under the multisports club Lyon Olympique Universitaire, in 1896 as Racing Club de Lyon, but the team management would have several disagreements and the then manager Felix Louot would go on to form the Olympique lyonnaise in 1950, after a moderate campaign in the french league, it was bought by Businessman Jean Micheal Auluas on 15 th June 1987, the club enjoyed much more success after this new ownership.
OL has won a total of 24 trophies which consisted of seven league titles, five Coupe de France, one Coupe de la Ligue, eight Trophees des Champions and finally one UEFA Intertoto cup. Most of its success came after its acquisition which includes all their trophies, excluding just two Coupe de France cups. This team is home to the famous Parc Olympique Lyonnaise which has a capacity of over 60,000 seats. The club also have various other investments in Esports, basketball and women’s soccer leagues in the USA.
John Textor, an American businessman recently acquired the club for a value of 490 million euros holds the majority stakeholder of the club and became the chairman on 5 May of this year.
Fleury Di Nallo has the highest goal-scoring record of the club with 220 goals in 490 games and Serge Chiesa has played the highest amount of games which is a total of 541 appearances.
4: Association Sportive de Saint-Étienne Loire
Sportive de Saint-Étienne is a French football club situated in the city of Saint-Étienne takes the fourth spot in the list. It was founded by employees of the Grocery store based in the area in 1919 and was formally indicted in the league with Pierre Guichard as its first president who merged it with another local club called Stade Forézien Universitaire. The owners are Roland Romeyer and Bernard Caiazzo and it is home to the beautiful Stade Geoffroy-Guichard which holds a sitting capacity of over 42,000 spectators. Talking about the team, it has won 22 trophies which consist of ten league titles, six Coupe de France cups, a Coupe de la Ligue title and five Trophée des Champions.
The club achieved most of its success between 1951 and 82, when they won 10 titles, the second highest in France club history, in 1981-82, the team was hit with allegations of financial fraud involving a controversial slush fund which led to the departure and eventual jailing of long-time president Roger Rocher, this was the start of their downfall as the team were relegated to the 2nd division in the subsequent year.
Hervé Revelli has the highest goal scoring of the club with 219 goals in 414 games and René Domingo has played the highest amount of games which is a total of 518 appearances, it was over 30 years when they would win their next trophy which the coupe de Ligue in 2012-13 making them the highest winner of the cup. The team’s financials don’t look good with the owners putting it up for sale, but in terms of performance, things are better and battling for their promotion spot to Ligue 1.
5: Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club,(AS Monaco)
AS Monaco is situated in Fontvieille, Monaco, founded on 1 August 1919 as a unification of numerous local clubs based in France and takes the fifth spot on the list. It is the only club which is not in the country but is a member of the French Football Federation. It is home to the majestic Stade Louis-II stadium with a seating capacity of over 16,000. The club has won 19 trophies in total, which consists of eight league titles, five Coupe de France, one Coupe de la Ligue, four Trophee des Champions and one UEFA Intertoto Cup.
In 1960, Monaco coach Lucien Leduc led the club to its first professional trophy, the Coupe de France and three league titles in the subsequent years, the club also had the opportunity of hosting French legend Arsene Wenger who led them to their fifth league title in the 1987-88 season which also propelled the manager to the international football community.
Delio Omnis has the highest goal-scoring record of the club with 193 goals in 246 games and Jean-Luc Ettori Retired has played the highest amount of games which is a total of 753 appearances. The club got relegated in the year 2011 and was up for purchase it was acquired was Russian Oligarch Dmitry Rybolovlev for a hefty sum of 600 million euros who would go on a spending spree of 140 million euros to buy famous players like Radmael Falcao, and James Rodrigues.
It also spent another 60 million euros on Anthony Martial, making it the highest transfer fee for a teenager which proved to be successful after they won the league title in the same year (2013-14). The takeover has been successful as the club has won over 8 trophies. The club was the first to give Kylian Mbappe his first youth contract which has proved to be successful for both the team and the player. Now, with many of the great players retiring or leaving the side which included Kylian Mbappe for a record 180 million dollars to PSG, many wonder if they’ll be able to achieve their past feats again.
6: Football Club des Girondins de Bordeaux (Girondins de Bordeaux)
Girondins de Bordeaux is a French football club situated in the city of Bordeaux Gironde is on the sixth spot. It was founded by André Chavois on 1st October 1881 making it the oldest club in this list and achieved professional status on 2 July 1936. The team has won 17 trophies, which consists of six league titles, three Coupe de la Ligue, four Coupe de France, three Trophée des Champions, one UEFA Intertoto Cup and also reached the UEFA Cup final in 1996.
André Gérard was appointed the manager in 1950 and led the team to its first league title, it was also the first time Bordeaux played ligue one football, and he was also the longest-serving manager of the club, sadly It took the team another 23 years to win their next league title which was succeeded under the helm of Claude Bez, who spent millions in improving the club and will go on to win not only its second title but three more titles.
Alain Giresse was also part of this team, he would go on to have the highest number of appearances(592) and goals (182). On 22 June 2021, Bordeaux was acquired Gérard López acquired the club after their previous owner Mediapro went bankrupt, to make matters worse, the team also finished last in the same season and was relegated.
7: Football Club de Nantes(FC Nantes)
FC Nantes is a French football club situated at Nantes in Pays de la Loire and sits in the seventh spot. It was founded during the tragedy of World War Two (21st April 1943) as many local clubs came together to establish one large club for their survival with Aimé Nuic as its first manager. It is home to the famous Stade de la Beaujoire stadium which has a sitting capacity of almost 40,000.
The club has won a total of 16 trophies, consisting of eight league titles, four Coupe de France, one Coupe de la Ligue and three trophies des champions.
José Arribas led the team to their first-ever league title in 1965 and would go on to win in 1966 and 1973. He is widely as a legend of the club’s history and was the longest-serving manager of the team(managing over 16 years). His replacement Jean-Vincent carried on the legacy by winning in his first season, giving the club their fourth title. He also achieved the historic reign of going unbeaten at home for 92 games. French football clubs and financial irregularities are synonymous with each other as the team faced a crisis in 1992 where they were unable to pay the management and had to rely on their youth team which almost got them relegated, although Nantes managed to win a title in 2001, their troubles didn’t subside and were finally relegated in 2007, finishing last in the league.
The club was sold to Waldemar Kita for 10 million euros and immediately promoted in the next year. Jean-Paul Bertrand-Demane holds the highest appearances for the club and Philippe Gondet is the highest netter of the club with 125 goals coming from just 231 games.
8: Stade de Reims
Stade de Reims is a French football club situated in Reims, France. It was founded by Marquis Melchior de Polignac in 1910. The club was originally named Société Sportive du Parc Pommery and changed to Stade De Reims, it is home to the 21,000 seater Stade Auguste-Delaune, a multi-purpose stadium which had the privilege of hosting two world cups. The team has won 14 trophies which consists of six Ligue 1 titles, two Coupe de France, five Trophée des Champions and one Latin Cup. They were largely responsible for the first Golden Generation of French football with Reims players Roger Marche, Raymond Kopa, Just Fontaine, Jean Vincent, Robert Jonquet and many more.
David Harrison was the first official manager of the team for the seasons 1931-34. In the year 1945, Henri Roessler was appointed manager and led the team to their first league title, after he departed, the club legend Albert Batteux who had 287 appearances and 35 goals was brought in as his replacement and he managed the team for 13 years, making him the longest-serving manager of the club and led the team to 6 league titles. It is considered one of the most successful reigns in French Football. In 1985 Another legend Carlos Bianchi, the all-time highest goal scorer of the club, scoring 115 in 142 matches, returned as the manager. Until, once again during the 1991 season, the team was hit with bankruptcy which exceeded over 50 million and was relegated to the third division.
Jean-Pierre Caillot finally took over the club as president and made big changes which later translated into the team’s promotion in the 2002 seasons, although his biggest achievement will come in the 2019–20 season Reims made an emphatic comeback and was ranked in the 6th place, to qualify for the UEFA Europa League, and play their first match in European competitions since 13 March 1963.
9: Lille Olympique Sporting Club (Lille)
Lille is a French football club situated in the city of Lille in Northern France. It is home to the Stade Pierre-Mauroy which has a seating capacity of 50,186. It was founded as a merger between Olympique Lillois and SC Fives in 1944. Both clubs were founding members of the French Division 1 and Olympique Lillois was the league’s inaugural champions. The club has won 12 trophies, which consists of four league titles, six Coupe de France, one Trophée des Champions and one UEFA Intertoto Cup. Its most successful period was the decade from 1946 to 1956, in the post-war period, when the team was led by managers George Berry( the first manager) and André Cheuva who was a former player in the club and also had the longest-serving time of 12 years as the manager of the club, in total the duo won seven major trophies, including a League/Cup double in 1946. Lille were relegated for the first time in 1956 but once again in 2011, it won another and its fourth league title in 2021 as well as its first French Super Cup.
The club is known for its academy which has produced and trained players like Eden Hazard, Lucas Digne, Benjamin Pavard, and Divock Origi. It is currently owned by Currently owned by Luxembourg-based investment fund Merlyn Partners SCSp with Olivier Létang as its president. Pierre Pleimelding is the all-time highest goal scorer with 62 goals in 131 matches and Rio Mavioda has a total of 370 appearances making it the all-time highest in the club.
10: Racing Club de Strasbourg Alsace (Strasbourg)
Strasbourg is a French football club founded in 1906, situated in the city of Strasbourg, Alsace. It is home to Stade de la Meinau stadium which has a capacity of 26,109 seats. The club was founded in 1906 by a group of youngsters in the Neudorf neighbourhood of the city. Joseph Heintz was the first president of the club. The team has won a total of 8 trophies, which consists of one league title, three Coupe de France, three oupe da la Ligue and a UEFA Intertoto Cup, it had its biggest victory in the 1937–38 season where they won 10–0 against Valenciennes.
René HauCss made the most amount of appearances for the team (580 in total) and the most goals for the club record is held by Oskar Rohr who scored 118 goals between 1934 and 1939, they also had one of the Youngest players in the squad named Jacques Glassman who was only 16 years old in his debut. The club was involved with lots of internal politics and went into financial liquidation in 2010-11 after which they were renamed RC Strasbourg Alsace. On 22 June 2023, BlueCo acquired a majority stake in the club for 75 million dollars and with Marc Keller as the President, there is a lot of hope, growth and future prospects for the team.
