Coupe de France: What impact on the race for Europe?
The Coupe de France quarter-finals, played from Tuesday to Thursday, could have a significant impact on the race for European qualification as the Ligue 1 McDonald’s season approaches its final stretch.
As a reminder, winning the Coupe de France grants a place in European competition. However, the situation changes if the cup winner has already qualified for Europe through the league. In that case, the additional European spot goes to the team finishing 7th in Ligue 1 McDonald’s, rather than the cup winner.
Among the eight clubs still involved in the competition, seven come from Ligue 1 McDonald’s, including three currently occupying European places:
RC Lens (2nd)
Olympique Lyonnais (3rd)
Olympique de Marseille (4th)
Other teams still have a chance of reaching Europe via the league, notably RC Strasbourg Alsace (8th), who are five points from 6th place and just two points from 7th.
Coupe de France quarter-final fixtures
RC Strasbourg Alsace – Stade de Reims (2–1)
FC Lorient – OGC Nice
Olympique de Marseille – Toulouse FC
Olympique Lyonnais – RC Lens
A scenario seen before
Introduced a year and a half ago, the new European competition format with league phases allows seven French clubs to qualify for Europe.
Under the usual structure:
1st, 2nd and 3rd in Ligue 1 McDonald’s qualify directly for the UEFA Champions League league phase.
4th place must pass through a qualifying round and a play-off to reach the Champions League. If eliminated, the team is transferred to the UEFA Europa League.
5th place qualifies for the Europa League league phase.
6th place enters a play-off for the UEFA Europa Conference League league phase.
If the Coupe de France winner finishes outside the top six, they earn a Europa League league-phase place.
However, if the cup winner finishes in the top six, the situation changes. The club keeps the European place earned through its league finish if it finishes in the top five. If it finishes 6th, it will play in the Europa League league phase.
In all scenarios where the Coupe de France winner finishes in the top six, 7th place in Ligue 1 McDonald’s becomes European, granting access to the Conference League play-offs. This happened recently, benefiting Lens in 2024–2025 and Strasbourg in 2025–2026.
Could there even be an eighth European qualifier?
While seven French clubs have qualified for Europe in each of the last two seasons, there is even a scenario that could produce an eighth.
If the Coupe de France winner finishes in the top six, and Strasbourg finish 7th and win the UEFA Europa Conference League, their European triumph would earn them a place in the Europa League league phase.
In that case, the Conference League play-off spot would move down the table, meaning 8th place in Ligue 1 McDonald’s would also qualify for Europe.
