Ligue 1

Ligue 1, a men’s French professional association football (soccer) league founded in 1932. Operated by the Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP; French: “Professional Football League”), itself under the authority of the Fédération Française de Football (FFF; French: “French Football Federation”), Ligue 1 is the top tier of the French football league system, which also includes Ligue 2, Ligue 3 (formerly Championnat National 1), Championnat National 1 (formerly National 2), and Championnat National 2 (formerly National 3). Ligue 1 features 18 clubs. Paris Saint-Germain FC (PSG) is the most successful club in Ligue 1 history, with 14 league titles.

Formation and history

Association football came to France from Britain, spreading to Paris and northern France in the 1890s. In 1894, though football had not yet been professionalized in France, the country held its first national football competition with six clubs from Paris and its suburbs.

Football gradually grew in popularity in France in the 20th century, and the FFF was formed in 1919, with future FIFA president Jules Rimet as its chair. In 1930 the National Council of the FFF voted to create a professional league, which was named National and kicked off in 1932 with 20 clubs. The top tier was renamed Division 1 a year later and became Ligue 1 in 2002. Olympique Lillois won the first season. AS Monaco, though not a French club, has participated in the French football system since 1953.

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Format

Each club plays the other 17 clubs twice a season, in one home and one away game, for a total of 34 games. The season lasts from late August to May, with a short winter break. Clubs get three points for a win, one for a draw, and zero points for a loss. At the end of each season, the club with the most points wins the Ligue 1 championship. The bottom two clubs are relegated to Ligue 2 for the next season, and the top two clubs from Ligue 2 are promoted to Ligue 1. To determine the third promotion spot, the team that placed 16th in Ligue 1 plays in a two-legged (one match played at each team’s home venue) promotion and relegation fixture against the winner of the Ligue 2 promotion playoffs, a knockout postseason tournament featuring the 3rd-, 4th-, and 5th-place teams in Ligue 2. The team that wins the fixture is determined by tallying the highest aggregate score across both matches and takes the third spot in the top tier for the next season. Ligue 1 has operated with 20 clubs at times, most recently from 2002 to 2023. When the number of Ligue 1 clubs was reduced to 18 in 2023, four clubs were relegated to Ligue 2 and only two clubs were promoted.

The top three clubs at the end of the season also win direct entries to the league stage of the UEFA Champions League, the top-tier tournament of European clubs. The fourth-place team earns a spot in the qualifying round of the Champions League. The fifth-place club and the winner of the Coupe de France (primary knockout domestic tournament) qualify directly for the second-tier UEFA Europa League. The sixth-place team qualifies for the third-tier UEFA Conference League unless the winner of the Coupe de France also finishes in the top five positions in Ligue 1, in which case the team finishing sixth qualifies for the Europa League and the team in seventh place gains a spot in the qualifying playoffs for the Conference League.

Title sponsorship

Ligue 1 took on its first title sponsor in 2002, signing a multiyear deal with the telecommunications company Orange. From 2002 to 2008 the league was known as Ligue 1 Orange and included Orange’s logo in its promotional materials. Ligue 1 did not have a title sponsor again until 2017, though Orange remained a corporate partner. In 2017 Ligue 1 announced European home furnishings chain Conforama as its new title sponsor. Conforama reportedly paid €10 million per year for rights to the title. Subsequent partners were Uber Eats (2020–24) and McDonald’s (2024– ). Despite these sponsorships (McDonald’s reportedly paid €30 million per season for its deal) and the rising popularity of Ligue 1 in France, finances have continued to be a concern for the league. In May 2025 the league and the streaming platform DAZN announced that both parties had agreed to bring a domestic broadcast deal—worth about €400 million per season—to an end after the 2024–25 season.

Successful clubs and players

More than 70 clubs have participated in Ligue 1 over the years, and 19 have been league champions at least once. PSG is the most successful club with 14 titles, including 8 in nine seasons since 2017–18. AS Saint-Étienne has 10 league titles, followed by Olympique de Marseille (9), AS Monaco (8), FC Nantes (8), and Olympique Lyonnais, which won 7 consecutive titles starting in 2001–02.

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French goalkeeper Mickaël Landreau holds the record for the most player appearances in Ligue 1, having played 617 games across four clubs from 1996 to 2014. Argentine player Delio Onnis is the all-time leading goal scorer, with 299 goals in 449 games. Among French players, Bernard Lacombe holds the scoring record with 255 goals in 497 games.