France’s 15 Most Successful Football Clubs, Ranked

ARL Football Success Ranking System

The ARL Football Success Ranking System for men’s European club football establishes for certain which clubs are the most successful of each nation and in the whole of Europe. It is a system of scoring points to clubs based on what trophies and how many have been won.

Different trophies score different points and are based on a ‘glory’ criteria.

Only ‘competitive’ football trophies are considered.

France and Ligue 1 (Updated June, 2025)

France has a long footballing history and affluent fanbase with a very egalitarian football landscape; no less than 10 clubs have won five or more championship titles and an impressive 11 clubs have scored 100+ success points. No club has reached the 600-point mark, however. Many memories have been made in this big footballing country and it has given a lot to European football, particularly in the form of numerous world class players.

Competitions

USFSA Football Championship / Ligue 1 (1894-1914 ; 1919 ; 1927-1929 ; 1933-1939 ; 1946-)

FFF Coupe de France (1918-1991 ; 1993-)

LdFP Coupe de la Ligue / Coupe d’Été (1964-1965 ; 1982 ; 1984 ; 1986 ; 1991-1992 ; 1994-2020)

Challenge des Champions / LFP Trophée des Champions (1949 ; 1955-1962 ; 1965-1973 ; 1985-1986 ;1995 ; 1997-)

• French football ranks 5th in the UEFA Association Coefficient for 2025, making it a Tier 1 footballing nation and therefore awarded maximum Success Points for its domestic competitions.

• French clubs have scored a 48 success points in international competitions.

Competition Key	Points
SC: (LFP Trophée des Champions)	2
UEFA SC: UEFA Super Cup	4
IC: Intercontinental Cup / FIFA Club World Cup / FIFA Intercontinental Cup	6
LC: League Cup (LdFP Coupe de la Ligue)	8
ECL: UEFA Conference League	8
NC: National Cup (FFF Coupe de France)	10
EL: UEFA Cup / UEFA Europa League	12
UEFA CWC: UEFA Cup Winners Cup	13
FIFA CWC: Quadrennial FIFA Club World Cup	15
CL: UEFA European Cup / UEFA Champions League	17
C: Top Tier League Championship (LdFP Ligue 1)	18

Scroll down to view the France’s 15 most successful clubs

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5 Olympic Lyonnais

Success points:	200
Earliest trophy won:	Coupe de France (CdF), 1964
Latest trophy won:	CdF, 2012
Most successful manager:	Paul Le Guen – 60 points (2002-2005)
Most successful decades:	2000s – 166 points

Lyon’s premier football institution was founded way back in 1899 but kept a low profile until the football team split from their parent sports club to found the modern football club Olympic Lyonnais in 1950. From there they went from strength to strength. Les Gones (The Kids) were promoted to Ligue 1 for the long-term in 1954. By 1960, Lyon’s first days of glory began. Fleury Di Nallo, Lyon’s star centre-forward joined the club and during his 14 years there, Lyon won three French Cups as the ‘Little Prince of Gerland’ scored 222 goals as the club’s record goalscorer.

In 1987 with Lyon languishing in Division 2 again, businessman Jean-Michel Aulas who took control of the club aiming to turn Lyon into an established Ligue 1 side with his ambitious plan, called ‘OL – Europe‘. They were quickly promoted back with the top dogs.

By the Millennium, the club was flourishing on and off the field. Lyon were developing an array of stellar talent that quickly bore fruit and they won their first league crown in 2002. With a squad including future legends like Malouda, Juninho, Abidal and Karim Benzema, L’OL achieved a jaw dropping run of seven Ligue 1 Championships in a row, plus three major domestic cups including a ‘double’ in 2008. They smashed aside PSG and Marseilles in the process. Olympique Lyonnais are now established giants of French football.

4. AS Monaco FC

Success points:	210
Earliest trophy won:	CdF, 1960
Latest trophy won:	Coupe de la Ligue (CdlL), 2018
Most successful manager:	Lucien Leduc – 74 points (1958-63 and 1976-79)
Most successful decades:	1960s, 1980s, 1990s – 47 points

AS Monaco FC hold the distinction of being the only club to represent an entire country. It is the only club in Monaco hence why is plays in the French leagues. Monaco was founded in 1919 as an amalgamation of Monégasque sports clubs. It was invited to join the professional Ligue 2 in 1933 but got relegated back down to amateur status at the first try. It managed to break the door open again in 1948.

Manager Lucien Leduc arrived in 1958 and led Les Monégasques to their first major trophy, a French Cup at the decade’s turn. He went one step better the year after with Monaco’s first Championship, then better again with a domestic ‘double’ in ‘63.

Monaco have enjoyed major trophy wins every decade since, including another league title under Leduc in ‘78 and Arsene Wenger in 1988.

3. AS Saint Etienne

Success points:	258
Earliest trophy won:	Ligue 1 and Trophee des Champions (TdC), 1957
Latest trophy won:	CdlL, 2013
Most successful manager:	Robert Herbin – 102 points (1972-83 and 1987-90)
Most successful decade:	1960s – 128 points

Another French club founded well before WW2 yet which won nothing until well after, Les Verts’ glory years centre around the 1960s and ‘70s. It went into the 1980s to win its final Championship regarded as one of France’s biggest clubs, as it still is now.

In 1982, a financial scandal involving a controversial slush fund led to the departure and eventual jailing of long-time president Roger Rocher. Saint-Étienne subsequently suffered a free-fall with the club suffering relegation in the 1983–84 season. Its only major trophy since has been a solitary League Cup in 2013.

2. Olympique de Marseille

Success points:	337
Earliest trophy won:	CdF, 1924
Latest trophy won:	CdlL, 2012
Most successful manager:	Gerard Gili – 46 points (1988-90, 1994 and 1995-97)
Most successful decade:	1970s – 56 points

Marseille are a club tracing its history of winning big things back to the 20th Century’s first half. In the 1920s, Les Phocéens (The Phocaeans) hit the big time by winning three French Cups on the trot before a first league title. By 1972, the club added its 5th championship to an ever bulging trophy cabinet as well as its first league/cup ‘Double’.

By 1986 Bernard Tapie was elected Club President. He promptly assembled Ligue 1’s finest ever squad, packed with stars like Hoddle, Cantona, Deschamps and Desailly. From 1989, Marseille went on a barnstorming run, achieving a 2nd domestic Double then three more championships immediately after. It was capped with the piece de resistance – Ligue 1’s first ever UEFA Champions League in 1993.

Marseille’s latest success has also been a run of three trophy wins on the trot, this time League Cups from 2010 to 2012. Today, Marseille are now France’s 2nd most successful club, pushed aside by the giants from Paris.

1. Paris Saint Germain FC

Success points:	527
Earliest trophy won:	CdF, 1982
Latest trophy won:	Ligue 1, UEFA CL, CdF and TdC, 2024-2025
Most successful manager:	Laurent Blanc, 101 points (2013-16)
Most successful decade:	2010s – 238 points

Incredibly, the capital of France didn’t have a top football club until Paris Saint Germain was formed in 1970. By 1974, Ligue 1 status was secured. Les Parisiens continued from strength to strength; they won two cups and a league title in the 80s; another four cups and a championship came in the 90s, including beating Rapid Vienna to win a much coveted UEFA trophy – the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1996.

PSG struggled to prosper in the dawn of the new century despite more cup wins. By 2011, the club achieved what all pragmatic clubs salivate at the prospect of; they hooked in a well-to-do sheikh with the arrival of new majority shareholders Qatar Sports Investments (QSI). With goal machines like Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Kylian Mbappe, Paris have won an incredible four domestic ‘Trebles’. And the crowning glory of it all; in 2024-2025, Barcalona legend Luis Enrique led PSG to win Ligue 1 with a record 19 points; they then thrashed Inter Milan 5-0 in the CL Final to complete a European ‘Treble’.

PSG’s outstanding squad of superstars has ensured that it rules the roost over French football. It’s France’s number 1 club!

Competition Key	Points
SC: (LFP Trophée des Champions)	2
UEFA SC: UEFA Super Cup	4
IC: Intercontinental Cup / FIFA Club World Cup / FIFA Intercontinental Cup	6
LC: League Cup (Coupe de la Ligue)	8
ECL: UEFA Conference League	8
NC: National Cup (Coupe de France)	10
EL: UEFA Cup / UEFA Europa League	12
UEFA CWC: UEFA Cup Winners Cup	13
FIFA CWC: Quadrennial FIFA Club World Cup	15
CL: UEFA European Cup / UEFA Champions League	17
C: Top Tier League Championship (Ligue 1)	18

15 Most Successful Clubs in France

Position	Club	Points Subtotals	Success Points Total
1	Paris Saint Germain	SC: 13 x 2 = 26 LC: 9 x 8 = 72 NC: 16 x 10 = 160 UEFA CWC: 1 x 13 = 13 CL: 1 x 17 = 17 C: 13 x 18 = 234 +5 (Trebles)	527
2	Olympique de Marseille	SC: 3 x 2 = 6 LC: 3 x 8 = 24 NC: 10 x 10 = 100 CL: 1 x 17 = 17 C: 10 x 18 = 180	337
3	AS Saint Etienne	SC: 5 x 2 = 10 LC: 1 x 8 = 8 NC: 6 x 10 = 60 C: 10 x 18 = 180	258
4	AS Monaco FC	SC: 4 x 2 = 8 LC: 1 x 8 = 8 NC: 5 x 10 = 50 C: 8 x 18 = 144	210
5	Olympique Lyonnais	SC: 8 x 2 = 16 LC: 1 x 8 = 8 NC: 5 x 10 = 50 C: 7 x 18 = 126	200
6	FC Nantes	SC: 3 x 2 = 6 LC: 1 x 8 = 8 NC: 4 x 10 = 40 C: 8 x 18 = 144	198
7	FC Girondins de Bordeaux	SC: 3 x 2 = 6 LC: 3 x 8 = 24 NC: 4 x 10 = 40 C: 6 x 18 = 108	178
8	Stade de Reims	SC: 5 x 2 = 10 LC: 1 x 8 = 8 NC: 2 x 10 = 20 C: 6 x 18 = 108	146
9	CO Roubaix Tourcoing	NC: 1 x 10 = 10 C: 7 x 18 = 126	136
10	Lille OSC	SC: 1 x 2 = 2 NC: 6 x 10 = 60 C: 4 x 18 = 72	134
11	OGC Nice	SC: 1 x 2 = 2 NC: 3 x 10 = 30 C: 4 x 18 = 72	104
12	Standard Athletic Club	C: 5 x 18 = 90	90
13	RC Strasbourg Alsace	LC: 4 x 8 = 32 NC: 3 x 10 = 30 C: 1 x 18 = 18	80
=14	Stade Rennais FC	NC: 3 x 10 = 30 C: 2 x 18 = 36	66
=14	Le Havre AC	SC: 1 x 2 = 2 NC: 1 x 10 = 10 C: 3 x 18 = 54	66