Championnat National

Championnat National
Organising body	French Football Federation
Founded	1993; 32 years ago
Country	France
Confederation	UEFA
Number of teams	18
Level on pyramid	3
Promotion to	Ligue 2
Relegation to	Championnat National 2 [en]
Domestic cup(s)	Coupe de France
Current champions	Nancy (1st title) ; (2024–25 [en])
Most championships	Red Star (3 titles)
	Current: 2025–26 Championnat National [en]

Championnat National (English: French National Championship), also known as National or Division 3, is the third division of French football behind Ligue 1 and Ligue 2. It is contested by 18 clubs and runs on a system of promotion and relegation with Ligue 2, the second division of French football and the Championnat National 2, the fourth division of French football. It is a semi-professional league and is run annually and is composed of professional and semi-professional clubs or amateur clubs. In January 2025, Philippe Diallo announced during a press conference the Championnat National would be renamed Ligue 3 from the 2026–27 season, making it a professional league.^[1]

Quick facts Organising body, Founded ...

[1]

Team	Location	Stadium	Capacity
Aubagne Air Bel	Aubagne	Stade de Lattre-de-Tassigny [fr]	1,000
Bourg-Péronnas	Bourg-en-Bresse	Stade Marcel-Verchère [en]	11,400
Caen	Caen	Stade Michel d'Ornano [en]	20,300
Châteauroux	Châteauroux	Stade Gaston-Petit [en]	17,173
Concarneau	Concarneau	Stade Guy-Piriou [fr]	5,800
Dijon	Dijon	Stade Gaston Gérard	15,995
Fleury [en]	Fleury-Mérogis	Stade Auguste Gentelet	2,000
Le Puy [en]	Le Puy-en-Velay	Stade Charles Massot	4,800
Orléans	Orléans	Stade de la Source [en]	7,533
Paris 13 Atletico	Paris	Stade Sébastien Charléty [en]	20,000
Quevilly-Rouen	Le Petit-Quevilly [en]	Stade Robert Diochon [en]	12,018
Rouen	Rouen	Stade Robert Diochon [en]	12,018
Sochaux	Montbéliard	Stade Auguste-Bonal [en]	20,005
Stade Briochin	Saint-Brieuc	Stade Fred-Aubert [en]	10,600
Valenciennes	Valenciennes	Stade du Hainaut [en]	25,172
Versailles	Versailles	Stade Georges Lefèvre [en]	2,164
Villefranche	Villefranche-sur-Saône	Stade Armand Chouffet [fr]	3,500

Season	Group A Winner	Group B Winner	Other promoted teams
1993–94 [fr]	Guingamp	Châteauroux	Amiens and Perpignan [en]
1994–95 [fr]	Lorient	Épinal	Stade Poitevin [en] and Louhans-Cuiseaux
1995–96 [fr]	Stade Briochin	Sporting Toulon Var	Troyes and Beauvais
1996–97 [fr]	Wasquehal	Nîmes
Season	Champions	Runner Up	Third place
1997–98 [en]	AC Ajaccio	Sedan Ardennes	Créteil-Lusitanos [en]
1998–99 [fr]	Louhans-Cuiseaux	Créteil [en]	Gazélec Ajaccio [en]
1999–2000 [fr]	Beauvais	Martigues	Angers
2000–01 [fr]	Grenoble	Amiens	Istres
2001–02 [fr]	Clermont	Reims	Valence [en] and Toulouse^{[note 1]}
2002–03 [fr]	Racing Besançon	Angers	Rouen
2003–04 [fr]	Stade de Reims	Brest	Dijon FCO
2004–05 [fr]	Valenciennes	Valence [en]^{[note 2]}	Sète
2005–06 [fr]	Niort	Tours	Libourne [en]
2006–07 [fr]	Clermont (2)	US Boulogne	Angers
2007–08 [en]	Vannes	Tours	Nîmes
2008–09 [en]	Istres	Laval [en]	Arles
2009–10 [en]	Évian [en]	Reims	Troyes
2010–11 [en]	SC Bastia	Amiens	Guingamp
2011–12 [en]	Nîmes (2)	Niort	Gazélec Ajaccio [en]
2012–13 [en]	Créteil [en]	Metz	CA Bastia [en]
2013–14 [en]	Orléans	Luzenac [en]	Gazélec Ajaccio [en]
2014–15 [en]	Paris FC	Red Star	Bourg-Péronnas
2015–16 [en]	Strasbourg	Orléans	Amiens
2016–17 [en]	Châteauroux	Quevilly-Rouen	Paris FC
2017–18 [en]	Red Star (2)	Béziers [en]	Grenoble
2018–19 [en]	Rode [en]	Chambly [en]	Le Mans
2019–20 [en]	Pau	Dunkerque [en]	US Boulogne
2020–21 [en]	SC Bastia (2)	Quevilly-Rouen	Villefranche
2021–22 [en]	Laval [en]	Annecy [en]	Villefranche
2022–23 [en]	Concarneau	Dunkerque [en]	Red Star
2023–24 [en]	Red Star (3)	Martigues	Niort
2024–25 [en]	Nancy	Le Mans	US Boulogne
2025–26 [en]	TBD	TBD	TBD

Championnat National

Current clubs

List (2025–26 season)

Champions

Notes

Related pages

References

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