Lens won the first French Cup in its history this Friday, defeating Nice 3-1 in the final, played at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, on the outskirts of Paris.
Florian Thauvin (25′), Odsonne Édouard (42′) and Abdallah Sima (78′) scored the goals for the ‘Sang et Or’ (‘Blood and Gold’) team. Djibril Coulibaly managed to reduce the deficit in stoppage time of the first half (45+3′).
The title closes an exceptional season in style, in which Lens finished second in Ligue 1 and secured a direct spot in the next Champions League.
This was only Lens’ third title in the top tier of French football. The club, founded 120 years ago, has only won the French Championship once, in 1997/98, and has six runner-up finishes, two of them recent (2022/23 and the current season). In 1998/99, they won the now-defunct French League Cup. In the French Cup, Lens lost three finals, the last one in the year of their French title (1997/98), before achieving their first victory this Friday.