All of the Ligue 1 on one page: today's stories told by hundreds of French and international outlets, the live table, fixtures, results and the news of every club, translated into English.
FranciaLigue 1 (French: [liɡ œ̃]; lit. 'League 1'), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system.
Administered by the Ligue de Football Professionnel, Ligue 1 is contested by 18 clubs and operates on a system of promotion and relegation from and to Ligue 2. Seasons run from August to May. Most games are played on Saturdays and Sundays, with a few games played during weekday evenings.
Ligue 1 was inaugurated on 11 September 1932 under the name National before switching to Division 1 after a year of existence. It continued to operate under that name until 2002, when it adopted its current name. Ligue 1 ranks fifth in the UEFA coefficient rankings as of 2025–26 based on performances in European competitions over the past five seasons, behind England's Premier League, Italy's Serie A, Spain's La Liga and Germany's Bundesliga.
PSG are the most successful club, with 14 league titles, and the current defending champions as of the 2026–27 season.
Foundation
Professionalism in French football did not exist until July 1930, when the National Council of the French Football Federation (FFF) voted 128–20 in favour of its adoption. Prior to this, the first division of French football was contested between 1894 and 1929 through an amateur league run by the USFSA.
The founders of professionalism in French football were Georges Bayrou, Emmanuel Gambardella and Gabriel Hanot. Professionalism was officially implemented on 11 September 1932.
In order to successfully create a professional football league in the country, the Federation limited the league to twenty clubs. In order to participate in the competition, clubs were subjected to three important criteria:
The incoming club must have had positive results in the past.
The incoming club must be able to pull in enough revenue to balance its finances.
The incoming club must be able to successfully recruit at least eight professional players.
Many clubs disagreed with the subjective criteria, most notably Strasbourg, RC Roubaix, Amiens and Stade Français, while others like Rennes, due to fear of bankruptcy, and Lille, due to a conflict of interest, were reluctant to become professional. Lille's president, Henri Jooris, also chairman of the Ligue du Nord, feared his league would fold and proposed it become the second division of the new league. Eventually, many clubs earned professional status, though it became more difficult to convince clubs in the northern half of the country; Strasbourg, Roubaix and Amiens refused to accept the new league, while conversely Mulhouse, Excelsior AC Roubaix, Metz and Fives accepted professionalism. In southern France, clubs such as Marseille, Hyères, Montpellier, Nîmes, Cannes, Antibes and Nice were extremely supportive of the new league and accepted their professional status without argument.