The Coupe de la Ligue (), known outside France as the French League Cup, was a knockout cup competition in French football organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel. The tournament was established in 1993 and, unlike the Coupe de France, was only open to professional clubs in France which play in country's top three football divisions, though the third is not fully professional.
The most successful team in the competition was Paris Saint-Germain with nine wins, including the last edition in 2019–20. The LFP voted to suspend the competition indefinitely to "reduce the season schedule".
Precursors
Another competition named Coupe de la Ligue existed from 1963 to 1965. In 1982, a Coupe d'Eté (Summer cup) was held before the start of the French league season; the cup was won by Laval. This tournament continued under the name of Coupe de la Ligue, until 1994, before the beginning of the French season. (The 1991 edition was open only for Division 2 Teams).
History
thumb|left|The second and last version of the Coupe de la Ligue trophy
The tournament in its last format started in 1994 and was initiated by the professional teams because of their displeasure with the Coupe de France, thanks to its built-in home advantage for teams playing in the lower leagues. Entrance to the UEFA Cup, now called the UEFA Europa League, was offered to the winning team. The first final decided by a penalty shootout was in 1996 when Metz beat Lyon. The first three finals were held at Parc des Princes; from the 1998 edition until 2015, the finals have been held at the Stade de France. Strasbourg and Paris Saint-Germain won the competition at both stadiums. The LFP suspended the competition indefinitely after the 2019–20 season, to reduce fixture congestion.
Winners
{| class="wikitable sortable" border="1"
|-
!Team
!Winners
!Runners-up
! class="unsortable"|Years won
! class="unsortable"|Years runner-up
|-
|Paris Saint-Germain||align=center|9||align=center|1||align=left|1995, 1998, 2008, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020 || align=left|2000
|-
|Strasbourg||align=center|4||align=center|0||align=left|1964, 1997, 2005, 2019||align=left|—
|-
|Bordeaux||align=center|3||align=center|3||align=left|2002, 2007, 2009||align=left|1997, 1998, 2010
|-
|Marseille||align=center|3||align=center|0||align=left|2010, 2011, 2012||align=left|—
|-
|Metz||align=center|2||align=center|1||align=left|1986, 1996||align=left|1999
|-
|Lens||align=center|2||align=center|1||align=left|1994, 1999||align=left|2008
|-
|Laval||align=center|2||align=center|0||align=left|1982, 1984||align=left|—
|-
|Lyon||align=center|1||align=center|5||align=left|2001||align=left|1996, 2007, 2012, 2014, 2020
|-
|Monaco||align=center|1||align=center|4||align=left|2003||align=left|1984, 2001, 2017, 2018
|-
|Montpellier||align=center|1||align=center|2||align=left|1992||align=left|1994, 2011
|-
|Nantes||align=center|1||align=center|1||align=left|1965||align=left|2004
|-
|Sochaux||align=center|1||align=center|1||align=left|2004||align=left|2003
|-
|Nancy||align=center|1||align=center|1||align=left|2006||align=left|1982
|-
|Reims||align=center|1||align=center|0||align=left|1991||align=left|—
|-
|Gueugnon||align=center|1||align=center|0||align=left|2000||align=left|—
|-
|Saint-Étienne||align=center|1||align=center|0||align=left|2013||align=left|—
|}
Records
- Most tournament wins (team): 9, Paris Saint-Germain
- Most final appearances (team): 10, Paris Saint-Germain
- Most tournament wins (player): 6, Edinson Cavani, Marquinhos, Thiago Silva and Marco Verratti (2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2020)
- Most tournament wins (manager): 4, Didier Deschamps (2003, 2010, 2011 and 2012) and Laurent Blanc (2009, 2014, 2015 and 2016)
- Most goals scored in a season (player): 7, Stéphane Guivarc'h (1997–98)
- Most goals scored in the final (player): 8, Edinson Cavani (2 in 2014, 2 in 2015, 2 in 2017, 2 in 2018)