Trophée des Champions: A History Lesson

The Trophée des Champions will help kick off the French football calendar in 2025 when AS Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain face off on January 5 at Stadium 974 in Doha, Qatar.

Before the action kicks off in this edition of the match, let's rewind the clock and reflect on the history of the annual contest between the Ligue 1 McDonald's champion and the Coupe de France winner.

The Trophée des Champions, as it is known today, was first held in 1995. However, before its inception, an annual matchup called the Challenge des Champions took place between 1955 and 1973, with a brief revival in 1985 and 1986.

After almost a decade without a matchup that pitted the Ligue 1 McDonald's champion and the Coupe de France winner against each other, the Trophée des Champions came into creation with the first game being held in 1995 between PSG and FC Nantes with the Parisians coming out victorious.

Since 1995, the annual match was only skipped once, in 1996, when AJ Auxerre won the double.

The Trophée des Champions, traditionally held in France since its inception, went global in 2009 when the match between Bordeaux and Guingamp was played at Stade Olympique in Montreal, Canada. This marked the first time the annual contest, dating back to the Challenge des Champions, was held outside France.

Since 2009, the Trophée des Champions has been played in different continents, such as North America, Europe, Africa and Asia. It's also been held in various countries, such as Canada, the United States, Morocco, China, Gabon, Tunisia, Israel, Qatar, Austria, and France.

PSG also hold the record for the most times a club has won the Trophée des Champions/Challenge des Champions, winning this trophy on 12 occasions, and they'll be going for a three-peat, having won the contest in 2022 and 2023.

Olympique Lyonnais are second behind PSG, having won the Trophée des Champions/Challenge des Champions eight times, but OL haven't won this annual game since 2012.

After the capital club and Les Gones, there's a tie for third place with Saint-Étienne and Stade de Reims, with these two sides having won the annual game five times. Reims won the first-ever matchup between the Ligue 1 McDonald's champion and the Coupe de France winner in 1949, but it was an unofficial match against Racing Paris.

Should Monaco defeat PSG, the two-way tie for third place will be a three-way tie as Les Rouge et Blanc have won this game four times, with their last victory coming in 2000 against Nantes.

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