Top 10 famous soccer clubs from France

France is a soccer powerhouse with a long history of professional soccer development, a mature system of domestic talent development and the introduction of foreign talent. As for the national team, France has won the World Cup twice and reached the quarterfinals of the final round six times in the history of the team.

In terms of professional league, Ligue 1 has long been in the first-tier league in Europe, and is known as one of the top five leagues in Europe, along with England's Premier League, Spain's La Liga, Italy's Serie A and Germany's Bundesliga.

In addition to being a stage for French stars to become famous, Ligue 1 is also an important springboard league for many South American and African stars to develop in Europe. It can be said that for a long time, Ligue 1 clubs have blossomed and the league as a whole has been a place to produce top stars, but not a place to keep them for a long time.

It just seems that things are starting to change, as the commercialization of Ligue 1 has entered a whole new era over the past decade or so, with more and more big name players from other countries choosing to expatriate to Ligue 1 to develop and earn high salaries, while Ligue 1 clubs are starting to significantly improve their performance in the Champions League.

When it comes to classic French soccer clubs, I wonder which ones come to your mind? In this article, I will take a look at the top 10 classic French soccer clubs for your reference, based on a combination of honor and influence. Of course, due to the limitation of space, if there are any debatable points or leftovers, you are welcome to leave your comments in the comment section to share your opinions.

Ten, Nice

The main honor of the team history: 4 times Ligue 1 champion, 4 times Ligue 2 champion, domestic cup championship for a total of 3 times.

Looking back at the history of Nice, their most glorious era is the 1950s, four times Ligue 1 championship experience all from that old time. The second best era was the 1970s, when Nice had a good squad but failed to turn it into a championship.

In the next few years, Nice is a club that will probably have a new high time. Why do you say so? Because Nice has won the U17 UEFA Youth League and the U19 UEFA Youth League in the last few years, and the new generation of the team is entering its golden years.

By the way, Nice is currently considered to be a European professional team with Chinese capital that is not easily remembered. Back in June 2016, Shantou businessman Zheng Nanyan, who founded the 7 Days hotel chain, acquired 80% of the shares of French soccer club Nice in a joint acquisition with another American businessman. Perhaps one day in the future, fans will see players from China landing at Nice FC.

Nine, Lille

Major honors in team history: 5 times Ligue 1 champions, 7 times Ligue 2 champions, 10 times domestic cup champions.

Lille is the biggest city in the north of France, and the club is located in this city, which has enough market guarantee. In terms of team honors, Lille, which is a sworn enemy of Lens, has two major labels: one is a Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 lifter, and the other is a nerve-racking, dark horse style.

In the history of Ligue 1 and even European competition, Lille has appeared many times as a spoiler or giant killer, such as last year's Ligue 1 title against Paris, which was an unexpected result before the start of the season. As the defending champion, this season Lille is weak, temporarily in ninth place in Ligue 1.

Eight: Bordeaux

Major honors: 6 times Ligue 1 champion, 1 time Ligue 2 champion, 10 times domestic cup champion.

Red wine is the proudest label of Bordeaux. As a famous city located in the southwest of France, the wine produced is smooth and delicate, with many layers and world-renowned. Bordeaux's soccer is not as famous as Bordeaux's wine, and many fans easily confuse Bordeaux's soccer with Porto's soccer, but Bordeaux's soccer has actually developed quite well and is worthy of praise, with French greats including Zinedine Zidane, Papan, Cantona, Deschamps, Domenech and Micou all having stayed here.

Looking back at Bordeaux's history, they started to take off in the 1980s, winning several Ligue 1 titles and playing in European competitions, before dropping to the second division in a roller coaster ride. In the 1990s, Bordeaux regained their strength and entered a stable period in the team's history, occasionally delivering performances that could reach the Ligue 1 T1 echelon. In the past few years, the less stable Bordeaux entered a low period again, and this season, they are struggling in the relegation zone together with another classic Ligue 1 team, Saint-Etienne.

Seven, Lyon

Major honors: 7 times Ligue 1 champion, 3 times Ligue 2 champion, 15 times domestic cup champion.

If you are a long-time fan of European professional football since the new century, you will probably be impressed by Lyon's dominance in Ligue 1 during that time and the famous Lyon player in the picture above who is known as the "King of Free Kicks".

Looking back at the history of Lyon, the team's history is not short, as it has been over seventy years since it was founded in 1950, but for the first fifty years of the team's history, Lyon did not achieve much until the late 1990s, when it started to enter a period of unprecedented success.

From 2001 to 2008, Lyon won a staggering seven consecutive Ligue 1 titles and were unbeatable in France. During this period, Lyon players such as Junior Juninho, Diarra, Michael Essien, Sidney Govou, Gregory Coupe and Benzema all impressed the fans.

After completing a seventh consecutive Ligue 1 dynasty, Lyon's competitiveness began to decline, but it is still considered a top team in Ligue 1. As for the reason why they never won Ligue 1 again, on the one hand, Lyon entered a long cycle of needing to build a new stadium and having to control the cost of their squad and sell off quality established players early; on the other hand, the times have changed and the overall competitiveness of Ligue 1 has improved, and the budget figures for Ligue 1's top teams to compete for the title have increased significantly.

Sixth, Nantes

Main honors: 8 times Ligue 1 champion, domestic cup championship for a total of 12 times.

Looking back at the history of Nantes, their more glorious years belong to the 1960s to 1980s. As a traditional team in Ligue 1 and a major producer of French internationals (such as Deschamps, Kalumba, Makelelele, Batts, etc.), the last Ligue 1 title was won in 2001. At the Champions League level, the last time Nantes had an amazing performance was probably back in 1996. That year, they reached the quarterfinals, but were eliminated from the competition against Juventus.

In the 06-07 season, Nantes even underachieved and became a relegated team. However, it took only 1 season for Nantes to climb back to Ligue 1. In the past ten years or so, Nantes' presence was average, positioning them as a mid-table team in Ligue 1.

V. Reims

Main honors: 2 times runner-up in Champions League, 5 times Ligue 1 champion, 1 time Ligue 2 champion, 1 time Ligue C champion, and 5 times domestic cup champion in total.

In the Champions League, Reims was the first Ligue 1 team to play in style. In 1956, in the first ever European Championship, Reims reached the final, losing 3-4 to Real Madrid of La Liga. Four years later, in 1959, Reims reached the final again, against Real Madrid, and lost 0-2.

For a long time in the past, Reims was positioned as a mid-table team in Ligue 1. However, with two runner-up finishes in the Champions League in the early years and the first appearances in European competition, Reims can claim to have beaten many of the better Ligue 1 clubs in classic terms. As for the stars of Reims, the first one is the legendary goalscorer Jules Fontaine, who scored 13 goals in a single World Cup.

Monaco

Major honors: 8 times Ligue 1 champion, 1 time runner-up of Champions League, 1 time Ligue 2 champion, and 6 times domestic cup champion in total.

In the history of Ligue 1, Monaco is a strong team that should not be underestimated, and a team that is very special in terms of geographical location. It has won titles in the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s and 2010s, which is quite difficult to witness the club's excellent long-term operation ability and the maturity of its player development system.

Looking back at Monaco's history, even when they went through a low point, they quickly came out and returned to the Ligue 1 title race as quickly as possible. Back in the 12/13 season, Monaco won the French second division championship, and in the following 13-14 season, Monaco won the second place in Ligue 1, almost creating the "Kaiserslautern myth". As for the representative of this team, in modern times, I believe the fans' priority will be Falcao or Mbappe.

Third, Marseille

Main honors: 1 Champions League, 9 Ligue 1 champions, 1 Ligue 2 champion, 1 Ligue C champion, and 16 domestic cup champions.

Founded in 1899, Marseille has been a top team in Ligue 1 for the majority of its history, although it has had its share of ups and downs, and has the strength to compete for titles. During that time, Marseille won four consecutive Ligue 1 titles and became the first French team in history to win the European Cup in 1993.

In common sense, with the only European Cup, Marseille should be the number one team in terms of history and representation of French soccer clubs. However, Marseille is actually one of the very few teams whose Champions League title is heavily tarnished. All because, in order to prepare for the Champions League final, Marseille management in the year is the league must be protected, the Champions League also want to fight for.

On the eve of the Champions League final, Marseille's management bribed the main players of the league rival Valenciennes to ensure that they could win even if they sent substitutes in the key league matches. After the fallout, Marseille's Champions League title was retained but the league title was cancelled and they were sentenced to relegation to Ligue 2, with then president Benedet Tapie being thrown in jail for a year. Incidentally, about that year's Champions League title, Jean-Jacques Edelie, a former member of the champions who played for Marseille, has publicly stated that there were many people who injected unknown liquids in the team that year.

After the fiasco of playing league football for the Champions League, Marseille fell into a long low period. With the passage of time and the team's continued overhaul, the consortium and fans only to restore confidence in this historic Ligue 1 team. It can be said that it was not until 2010 when they regained Ligue 1 that the former Champions League champions really came back to life and cleared the gloom.

Second, St. Etienne

Main honors: 10 times Ligue 1 champion, 1 time runner-up of Champions League, 3 times Ligue 2 champion, and 7 times domestic cup champion.

In terms of the number of Ligue 1 titles won, both Saint-Etienne and Paris Saint-Germain are currently tied for first in Ligue 1 history with 10, while the former, founded in 1919, is much older than the latter in history.

In the history of the Champions League, St. Etienne is one of the most important teams in Ligue 1. Back in 1979, Saint-Etienne reached the peak of its history, becoming the first French club to reach the final of the UEFA Champions League, only to be defeated by Bayern Munich, the Champions League winner at the time.

Unfortunately, after the 1980s, St. Etienne's successor was a bit quiet, and the youth system was always good, but they couldn't keep their famous players. The last time they won the Ligue 1 title was in the 1981 season. However, with the honors and records accumulated by their ancestors, St. Etienne was still ranked Top 3 in terms of Ligue 1 representative teams. However, the good times are not long, St. Etienne has been relegated to Ligue 1 this year, and will probably appear in Ligue 2 next year.

I. Paris Saint-Germain

Major honors: 10 times Ligue 1 champion, 1 time runner-up of Champions League, 1 time European Cup of Champions, 1 time Ligue 2 champion, and 33 times domestic cup champions in total.

In the history of professional soccer in France and in the history of professional soccer in Europe, Paris Saint-Germain, known by fans as "Grand Paris", is a typical representative of the new and powerful team.

In terms of the history of the team, Paris Saint-Germain, founded in 1970, does not have a long history in the European soccer world, where there are a lot of century-old stores, and they first had a small climax in the mid-1980s and mid-1990s, but the real step to become one of the top teams in Europe needs to be traced back to the 2010s, all because the super consortium from Qatar bought Paris, and after that, they spent a lot of money on attraction and investment. The Paris Saint-Germain team has been chasing a luxurious lineup.

Today, Paris Saint-Germain has become the most representative and popular French soccer club, with Neymar, Messi, Mbappe, Ramos, Icardi, Di Maria, Donnarumma and many other stars, the depth of the current lineup is not amazing. For the entire club, the Ligue 1 championship and even the Ligue 1 multi-championship has long been an achievement, but how to win the first European championship in the history of the team is worthy of consideration by the consortium and management of the owner.