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What are the big dates for the 2025/26 Ligue 1 McDonald's season?
The 2025/2026 season will be marked in particular by new international requirements that constrain the organization of domestic competitions. At the start of the season, the Club World Cup will end on July 13, 2025. At the end of the season, the 2026 World Cup will require players to be made available from May 25, 2026. Finally, the shift of the international period in March will cause the shift of the round of 16 for European competitions and will imply a very busy end to the season. In this context, no extra date will be available from March for clubs involved in European play, with the exception of a date between the 33rd and 34th matchdays of Ligue 1 McDonald’s.
Key dates for the 2025/26 Ligue 1 McDonald’s season
The 2025/2026 season will start on the weekend of 15/16/17 August 2025.
One matchday, Matchday 10, will be scheduled on a weekday, on Wednesday 29 October 2025.
Matchday 16, scheduled for the weekend of 14 December 2025, will be the last matchday of the 2025 calendar year.
Play will resume with the 17th matchday on the weekend of 4 January 2026.
The 34th and final matchday will be played on the weekend of 16 May 2026.
Play-off dates in 2025/26
To close the season, the play-off between the 4th and 5th place sides from Ligue 2 BKT will take place on Tuesday, May 12, 2026. The winner of this match will face the 3rd place team from Ligue 2 BKT in a second play-off scheduled for Friday, May 15, 2026.
The first leg of the McDonald’s Ligue 1 promotion play-offs will take place on Thursday, May 21, 2026 while the return leg will take place on Sunday, May 24, 2026. The double-legged tie will pit the 16th-placed side of Ligue 1 McDonald’s against the winner of the Ligue 2 BKT Play-offs.
The first leg of the Ligue 2 BKT promotion play-offs will be played on Tuesday, May 19, 2026, and the return leg will take place on Sunday, May 24, 2026. This match will pit the 16th in Ligue 2 BKT against the 3rd in National.
The general calendar of competitions for the 2025/2026 season will be validated by the FFF executive committee on March 13.
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