Ligue 1 is the top division of professional football in France and is sometimes locally referred to as Le Championnat. Professional league football in France has existed since 1932, and football remains the country’s most popular sport. The competition is also widely followed by Nigerian football fans, particularly those interested in its leading clubs and African players.
It is ranked as the fifth strongest league in Europe according to the UEFA association coefficient, behind England, Italy, Spain and Germany, and ahead of the Netherlands and Portugal.
Historically, French football was an open competition, and until the beginning of this century no team remained dominant for long. Paris Saint-Germain now leads all clubs with 14 titles, followed by Saint-Etienne with 10, Marseille with 9 and Nantes with 8. Lyon changed the open nature of the league when they dominated the first decade of the century, winning 7 consecutive titles between 2002 and 2008 after never previously having been crowned champions.
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Ligue 1 Format
As is common in Europe, Ligue 1 consists of 18 teams that play each other both home and away for a total of 34 matches. The season runs from August to May. Three league points are awarded for a win, one for a draw and none for a loss. At the end of the season, the team with the most points is crowned champion. If two or more teams finish level on points, goal difference is used as the tie-breaker to determine who finishes higher. If the teams still cannot be separated, total goals scored and additional competition criteria are applied.
At the end of the season, the two teams with the lowest points totals are relegated directly to Ligue 2, while the team finishing 16th enters a two-legged promotion and relegation playoff. The top two Ligue 2 clubs are promoted automatically, while teams finishing third to fifth compete for the right to face the 16th-placed Ligue 1 side.
At the other end of the table, teams compete for qualification for European competition. France’s fifth-place UEFA ranking means that the top three Ligue 1 teams qualify directly for the league phase of the Champions League, while the fourth-placed team enters the qualifying rounds. The fifth-placed team qualifies for the Europa League league phase, and the sixth-placed team normally enters the Conference League playoff round. The Coupe de France winner also receives a Europa League place, which can shift qualification further down the table if that club has already qualified through its league position.
Sponsorship and Media Coverage
Throughout sub-Saharan Africa and Nigeria, Ligue 1 matches are broadcasted live by various regional broadcasters, including SuperSport and Canal+, depending on the package being used and the location of the viewer. Over the years, the number of broadcasters that produce and air Ligue 1 in countries around the world has increased considerably. Ligue 1 has been distributed and broadcast to a variety of broadcasts and media outlets, with the number of countries and territories in which viewers can watch Ligue 1 matches now numbering more than 200. This increase in broadcasts and media has enabled Nigerian audiences to access Ligue 1 games much easier than previously, particularly with players such as Terem Moffi, Moses Simon, and Chidozie Awaziem participating in the league in the 2025-2026 season.
Ligue 1 is known officially as Ligue 1 McDonald’s due to their current naming-rights deal. Clubs throughout the league also have a variety of both domestic and international commercial sponsors within industries ranging from airline to telecommunication to financial institutions and automobile manufacturers. While the overall nature of sponsorship deals changes frequently, the ability of the league and top clubs within Ligue 1 to consistently maintain their profile and popularity with international audiences make them highly attractive to various types of companies to become their sponsor.
Recent History
Lyon thoroughly dominated Ligue 1 from the beginning of the 21st century until 2009, as they won seven consecutive league titles from 2002 through 2008. Beginning in the 2010s and continuing into the 2020s, the dominance in French football shifted from Lyon to Paris Saint-Germain, who has established themselves as the leading club in France during this time frame. Although PSG had a stranglehold on the league title from 2013-2016, AS Monaco broke the streak in 2017 by winning Ligue 1. Lille OSC also won the title from PSG in 2021, but PSG reestablished their dominance during the 2022-2023 season, winning their record 14th league championship (the team's fifth consecutive league title) during the 2025-2026 season.
French football as a whole has performed better in Europe in recent years as well. Olympique de Marseille became the first French club to win the UEFA Champions League in 1993, and PSG became just the second French club to win the tournament in 2025 (also successfully defending their title in 2026). Such accomplishments should help to change the perception that French sides continually fail to compete with the best from across all Europe. Ligue 1 is also continuing to develop young players and implement playing styles that highly value a combination of technical ability with strong physicality and athleticism.
Ligue 1 Facts and Figures
- The biggest victory in Ligue 1 history was Sochaux’s 12-1 defeat of Valenciennes during the 1935–1936 season.
- Mickaël Landreau holds the Ligue 1 appearances record with 617 matches for Nantes, Paris Saint-Germain, Lille and Bastia.
- Delio Onnis holds the all-time Ligue 1 goal-scoring record with 299 goals for Reims, Monaco, Tours and Toulon.
- The single-season goal-scoring record belongs to Josip Skoblar, who scored 44 goals for Marseille during the 1970–1971 season.
- Former Marseille president Bernard Tapie was convicted in connection with a 1993 match-fixing scandal involving attempts to bribe Valenciennes players before Marseille’s European Cup final.
