Of the 64 clubs, 18 hail from Ligue 1 – including reigning champions Toulouse. 12 out of the 20 Ligue 2 clubs are still in the competition, with a surprise exit already for Saint-Étienne who were eliminated by third tier Nîmes in the previous round. 

The draw has thrown up some intriguing encounters, with Lille facing an overseas side from Martinque, Golden Lion. Olympique de Marseille will be heading to National 3 (5th tier) side Thionville, with Lyon facing CA Pontarlier who play at the same level. Champions Toulouse will face 5th tier Chambéry, who knocked out Ligue 2 Grenoble in the previous round.

The big fixture of the Round of 32 has thrown up the ultimate David vs Goliath clash, as Paris Saint-Germain will travel to Régional 1 (6th tier) side US Revel in the Pyrenees. Meanwhile, AS Monaco will face Lens in an all-Ligue 1 encounter. 

The Coupe de France round of 32 draw in full

• Amiens (L2) – Montpellier (L1)
• Lille (L1) – Golden Lion (R1)
• Pays de Saint-Omer (R1) – Reims Saint-Anne (N3) or Dunkerque (L2)
• Sarreguemines (R1) – Valenciennes (L2)
• Thionville Lusitanos (N3) – OM (L1)
• Feignies Aulnoye (N2) – QRM (L2)
• Chambly-Oise (N2) – Racing Club de France Football (N2)
• Guingamp (L2) – Stade Rennais (L1)
• Lyon-La Duchère (N3) – Le Puy Foot 43 Auvergne (N2)
• Chambéry Savoie (N3) – Toulouse (L1)
• Lorient (L1) – Sochaux (N1)
• Stade Brestois (L1) – Angers (L2)
• US Feurs (N3) – AS Saint-Priest (N3)
• Louhans Cuisaux ou US Cosne (N3) – FC Rouen 1899 (N1)
• CA Pontarlier (N3) – OL (L1)
• Nice (L1) – Auxerre (L2)
• Lens (L1) – Monaco (L1)
• Le Havre (L1) – Caen (L2)
• SO Romorantin (N2) – CS Le Moule (R1)
• Metz (L1) – Clermont (L1)
• O. Alès en Cévennes (N2) – Paris FC (L2)
• Orléans (N1) – Nîmes (N1)
• Entente SSG (N3) – Bordeaux (L2)
• AS Fabrègues (R1) – Trélissac Antonne PFC (N2)
• Bergerac Périgord (N2) – Libourne (N2)
• Dieppe (N3) – Stade Levallois (L2)
• Pau (L2) – Nantes (L1)
• US Revel (R1) – PSG (L1)
• Dinan Léhon (N2) – Reims (L1)
• Avoine O. Chinon Cinais (N2) – Strasbourg (L1)
• Challans (N3) – Rodez (L2)
• Vendée Les Herbiers (N2) – JS Douvres-la-Délivrande (R2) or Châteauroux (N1)

N1 = 3rd tier, N2 = 4th tier, N3 = 5th tier, R1 = 6th tier

GFFN | George Boxall

Revel secured their progression to the ninth round of the tournament thanks to a penalty shoot-out win against Blagnac on Saturday. The club’s employees gathered to watch the draw and their elation was clear to see when PSG were pulled out of the hat. 

WATCH: US Revel celebrate drawing PSG in Coupe de France

“We’ve been dreaming since Saturday, don’t wake us up! We’re playing PSG, it’s fabulous. We were scared of getting Dieppe. We would have had to travel all the way across France. We couldn’t have imagined a draw like this,” reacted Roques in an interview with L’Équipe. 

Revel aren’t the only lower-league side to earn a big draw. US Thionville Lusitanos have already had an adventurous Coupe de France. The N3 (fifth division) made a 33,080km round trip to face New Caledonian side  Hienghène Sport in the seventh round of the tournament, and they have now drawn Olympique de Marseille. 

“We wanted to play OM. It’s extraordinary. We are an N3 club, born from a fusion of two clubs. I am delighted for the city and for the volunteers,” the club’s president François Ventrici told L’Équipe. 

GFFN | Luke Entwistle

L’Alsace reported that the game was stopped after only eight minutes of play when the police allegedly attempted to arrest a Mulhouse supporter in possession of a pyrotechnic device.

Fights between the police and the ultras groups broke out as they attempted to arrest this individual, to which the police responded by using tear gas. 

The gas then quickly spread to the surrounding sections of the stadium leading to a partial evacuation of the ground, with some people needing treatment from the emergency services present at the Stade de L’Ill due to the teargas, while a police officer suffered minor injuries to the face. 

This led to a delay of twenty minutes before the game between the side from the Championnat National 3 and their Ligue 2 visitors could be resumed. 

Valenciennes’ struggles in Ligue 2 looked to continue as they needed penalties to progress to the next round against an opposition three divisions below them after the game finished 1-1. 

GFFN | Nick Hartland

Thionville, a team from eastern France, were the only club from the Metropole France region to make the trip outside of La Hexagone for the Seventh Round of the competition. The journey to New Caledonia, a French overseas territory in the Pacific Ocean, takes over 20 hours each way, but it was not in vain as the National 3 side booked their place in the next round. 

Thionville opened the scoring in the 15th minute through Chafik Gourichy and extended their lead late on, benefitting from a numerical advantage to win 4-0 and book their place in Round 8 of the Coupe de France. Thionville will now make the long trip back from the overseas French territory, but at least they will do so with a win.

GFFN | Luke Entwistle

Montanier assessed he would have preferred to play on Wednesday, as fellow finalists Nantes will do so against Brest for a six-pointer in the relegation fight. The Toulouse head coach also implied that Lens were favored by the scheduling. The Artois side haven’t played for ten days now and will face a team whose season has already been crowned with success, and are already assured of a midtable finish in the league. “Monaco and Marseille ought to be furious“, Montanier said, speaking on the behalf of Lens’ rivals in the fight for Champions League places. Their opponents tonight can got back up to within one point of Marseille and six off PSG with a win.

GFFN | Bastien Cheval

Every year, France’s cup winners are handed an automatic place in the Europa League, if they are not already qualified for continental competition via their league placing – Nantes, this year, went all the way to the knockout stages before losing to Juventus.

But Les Violets’ spot in Europe next year will now depend on how the Serie A season plays out. Toulouse have the same majority stakeholder as Milan, American investment fund RedBird Capital, and UEFA do not allow two teams that share an owner to take part in the same continental competition. This also applies to different competitions, given that the Rossoneri could drop down from the Champions League group stage into the Europa League knockouts midway through the season. 

L’Équipe have contacted Toulouse on the subject, to no avail. The outlet also points out that RedBird will have to carry out structural changes in the ownership of one of the two clubs – as Red Bull did in 2017 for both Leipzig and Salzburg to play in Europe – within a very short timeframe for their teams to proceed in the competitions. Milan would have the priority over Toulouse in all criteria used by UEFA – league ranking, country coeffiecient, and the more prestigious competition, if they qualify for the Champions League. Toulouse would only have the advantage if the Serie A side drop down to the Conference League. In any other case, their spot would be handed over to Ligue 1’s 5th-place finishers.

GFFN | Raphaël Jucobin

The newcomers wasted no time in getting off the mark, as Logan Costa headed in the opener after just three minutes for his first ever goal as a professional. The 22-year-old would not have to wait much longer for his second, as he headed in another from close range to double his side’s lead within the first ten minutes.

The next two Toulouse goals would see Montanier’s men carve up Les Canaris on the counter with spectacular ease – both times, in-form striker Thijs Dallinga was on hand to apply the finishing touch.

With Nantes down and out, the pace in the second half would decidedly die down – although the fervour from the Nantes supporters remained sky-high. Ludovic Blas – who scored the winner in last year’s final – would grab a consolation goal from the spot with fifteen minutes to go, but it wasn’t enough to revive his team’s hopes. Not least given Zakarian Aboukhlal would restore the four-goal three minutes later with a thunderous strike from range. Toulouse’s ambitious project – which first took them back to Ligue 1, and then to mid-table safety – reaps its just rewards, and Les Violets earn their first Coupe de France win since 1957.

Nantes player ratings

GFFN | Raphaël Jucobin

However, the FFF did not get its way with the police prefect, who fought to keep the tifo, believing that banning it would only exacerbate tensions among Nantes supporters. The prefect is said to believe that the FFF’s position on the matter is too severe.

It’s possible that the FFF’s concerns stem from an incident in August 2022, when a Toulouse supporter altered the “On est Nantes putain” slogan to “Vous êtes des putains Nantes” (You are whores, Nantes) during a match between the two sides at the Stade de la Beaujoire.

As for the installation of spiked fences criticised by Liverpool fans, they were reportedly mainly aimed at preventing FC Nantes supporters from invading the pitch, but it was decided to install them on the Toulouse side as well. The prefect has expressed concerns over the possibility of a pitch invasion.

GFFN | George Boxall

Antoine Kombouaré’s Nantes will have the chance to retain their title and get some brief respite from their relegation battle, while Toulouse can secure the crowning achievement of an impressive post-promotion campaign.

For Les Canaris, all eyes will be on captain and attacking midfielder Ludovic Blas, who scored the winner in last season’s final against Nice and was again decisive in this year’s semi-final, with a top-corner strike to send his team to Paris. The regular fixtures of the team – goalkeeper Alban Lafont, midfielder Moussa Sissoko – are expected to start, while Mostafa Mohamed will likely start over Andy Delort up front. The only uncertainty, according to L’Équipe, is over the left-wing position, with Ignatius Ganago, Moses Simon, and Florent Mollet all in contention.

Toulouse captain Brecht Dejaegerre is set to return to the starting eleven following a concussion lay-off, returning to his usual position alongside Dutch midfield pair Branco van den Boomen and Stijn Spierings. Their in-form compatriot Thijs Dallinga starts up front, flanked by Zakaria Aboukhlal, who scored in the semi-final against Annecy.

Nantes predicted XI v Toulouse:

Alban Lafont – Fabien Centonze, Jean-Charles Castelletto, Nicolas Pallois, Quentin Merlin – Moussa Sissoko, Andrei Girotto, Samuel Moutoussamy – Ludovic Blas, Mustafa Mohamed, Ignatius Ganago.

Toulouse predicted XI v Nantes:

Kjetil Haug – Mikkel Desler, Anthony Rouault, Logan Costa, Gabriel Suazo – Brecht Dejaegere, Sitjn Spierings, Branco van den Boomen – Zakaria Aboukhlal, Thijs Dallinga, Ratão.

GFFN | Raphaël Jucobin

Liverpool’s Association of Disabled Supporters expressed shock at the move, stating that the installation of fences in a football stadium is a “horror”, and the responsible authorities seem to have learned nothing from past tragedies. They demanded that the fences be removed.

Donc il y a des grilles avec des PIQUES. On est au moyen âge la? C’est absolument scandaleux et irresponsable pic.twitter.com/sA9YmWZ1eS

— Paul Cometto (@PaulCometto) April 28, 2023

The Hillsborough disaster, in which 97 people died, was caused by a stampede that crushed victims against the fences in the stands. The association accused the French authorities of “regressing” in terms of safety and security and “treating people like animals”.

A British journalist and Liverpool supporter, Daniel Austin, also criticised the move, telling RMC Sport that “France has regressed in terms of safety and security”, and sports fans were not safe in the country. He argued that France should not host any major international sporting event “until significant changes are made to security and law enforcement.”

Football Supporters Europe joined the criticism, highlighting the dangers of such measures in the light of past tragedies. The French National Association of Supporters also expressed anger at the move.

Nous venons de saisir le tribunal administratif d'une requête de référé-liberté. pic.twitter.com/D1YBw3tSEw

— Asso.Nat.Supporters (@A_N_Supporters) April 28, 2023

The fences have been erected for a Coupe de France final which is embroiled in political contestation against the presidency of Emmanuel Macron, after the 45-year-old’s government pushed through retirement age reforms, which has seen mass civil disruption across the country.

There were plans in place to disrupt final itself, through planned power outages as well as a ‘red card to Macron’ protest during the match which has been subsequently banned by Paris’ police authorities.

GFFN | George Boxall