Challenge Espoirs
   HOME





Challenge Espoirs
The Challenge Espoirs is an annual under-23 men's football competition in France. Created in 2024, it is contested by twelve teams belonging to youth academies of professional clubs. History On 27 September 2024, the French Football Federation (FFF) announced the creation of the Challenge Espoirs, with the mission being to "give playing time to young players from the U18 to U23 categories, especially those are part of professional squads of Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 clubs." The first edition, established as an unofficial competition, would include twelve teams that belong to youth academies of professional clubs. Format The competition is contested by twelve teams composed of under-17 through under-23 players. However, there is a maximum of five players that can come from the under-17 and under-18 categories. The first edition was split into two groups of six teams that each compete against each other once, for a total of five matchdays. At the end of the season, the top two teams of ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


French Football Federation
The French Football Federation ( FFF and 3F; or Triple F; , ) is the governing body of football in France. It was formed in 1919 and is based in the capital, Paris. The FFF is a founding member of FIFA and is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the game of football in France, both professional and amateur. The French Football Federation is a founding member of UEFA and joined FIFA in 1907 after replacing the USFSA, who were founding members. History Background Before the FFF was established, football, rugby union and others sports in France were regulated by the (USFSA). Founded in November 1890, the USFSA was initially headquartered in Paris but its membership soon expanded to include sports clubs from throughout France.''The Official History of the Olympic Games and the IOC- Athens to Beijing, 1894–2008'': David Miller (2008) In 1894, the USFSA also organised the first recognised French football championship. The first competition featured just four Paris teams an ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Stade Malherbe Caen
Stade Malherbe Caen (; commonly known as SM Caen, Malherbe, or simply Caen) is a Football in France, French professional football team, based in the city of Caen in Normandy (administrative region), Normandy, that competes in the Championnat National from 2025–26 after relegation from Ligue 2 in 2024–25. The club was founded on 17 November 1913 by the merger of ''Club Malherbe Caennais'' and ''Club Sportif Caennais''. For most of its history, SM Caen has been one of the main amateur clubs in France. The late 1980s and early 1990s saw the rise of Stade Malherbe in the French football hierarchy. In 1985, Stade Malherbe adopted professional status. Three seasons later, it was promoted for the first time to first division. In 1992, a few months after being narrowly saved from bankruptcy, the club finished fifth in Division 1 and qualified for 1992–93 UEFA Cup, UEFA Cup. However, it was relegated three years later. Despite a second division title won in 1996, SM Caen fell back ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Sports Leagues Established In 2024
Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in a particular sport can vary from hundreds of people to a single individual. Sport competitions may use a team or single person format, and may be open, allowing a broad range of participants, or closed, restricting participation to specific groups or those invited. Competitions may allow a "tie" or "draw", in which there is no single winner; others provide tie-breaking methods to ensure there is only one winner. They also may be arranged in a tournament format, producing a champion. Many sports leagues make an annual champion by arranging games in a regular sports season, followed in some cases by playoffs. Sport is generally recognised as system of activities based in physical athleticism or physical dexterity, with major competitions admitt ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

2024 Establishments In France
4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is a square number, the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. Evolution of the Hindu-Arabic digit Brahmic numerals represented 1, 2, and 3 with as many lines. 4 was simplified by joining its four lines into a cross that looks like the modern plus sign. The Shunga would add a horizontal line on top of the digit, and the Kshatrapa and Pallava evolved the digit to a point where the speed of writing was a secondary concern. The Arabs' 4 still had the early concept of the cross, but for the sake of efficiency, was made in one stroke by connecting the "western" end to the "northern" end; the "eastern" end was finished off with a curve. The Europeans dropped the finishing curve and gradually made the digit less cursive, ending up with a digit very close to the original Brahmin cross. While the shape of the character for ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Stade Rennais FC
Stade Rennais Football Club (SRFC, ), commonly referred to as Stade Rennais () or simply Rennes,''Rennais'' and ''Stade Rennes'', used by some English-speaking media outlets and journalists, are not grammatically correct names for the club. is a French professional association football, football club based in Rennes, Brittany (administrative region), Brittany. It competes in Ligue 1, the top tier of French football league system, French football, and plays its home matches at the Roazhon Park. The team's president is Olivier Cloarec, and its owner is Groupe Artémis, Artémis, the holding company of businessman François Pinault. Rennes was founded in 1901 under the name Stade Rennais and is one of the 1932–33 French Division 1, founding members of the first division of French football. Alongside FC Nantes, Nantes, Rennes is one of the top football clubs in the region and the two are among the main clubs that contest the Derby Breton. The club's best finish in the league has b ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Toulouse FC
Toulouse Football Club () is a French professional association football, football club based in Toulouse. The club was founded in 1970 and currently plays in Ligue 1, the first division of Football in France, French football. Toulouse plays its home matches at the Stadium de Toulouse located within the city. ''Les Violets'' won the Coupe de France in 2023 Coupe de France final, 2023, and have won the second tier Ligue 2 on three occasions. Toulouse have participated in UEFA, European competition six times, including in 2007 when they qualified for the UEFA Champions League for the first time. The president of Toulouse FC is Damien Comolli, who succeeded the French businessman Olivier Sadran who took over the club following its bankruptcy in 2001 which resulted in it being relegated to the Championnat National. The club has served as a springboard for several players, most notably the World Cup-winning goalkeeper Fabien Barthez, international strikers André-Pierre Gignac, Ma ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Paris FC
Paris Football Club (French pronunciation: Help:IPA/French, [paʁi futbol klœb]), commonly referred to as Paris FC or simply PFC, is a French professional Association football, football club based in Paris, France. They will compete in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top division of Football in France, French football, in the 2025–26 Ligue 1, 2025–26 season, having gained promotion following the 2024–25 Ligue 2 season. Founded in 1969, the club merged with Stade Saint-Germain to form Paris Saint-Germain F.C., Paris Saint-Germain in 1970, but it eventually spun-off in 1972. They are nicknamed the ''Les Bleus'' (The Blues) for their shirt colour, and their crest features the Eiffel Tower. Since 2025, Paris FC has been a resident of the Stade Jean-Bouin (Paris), Stade Jean-Bouin, located in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. After the club split from Paris Saint-Germain, unlike their counterpart, they struggled to establish themselves in the ranks of French foo ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

AS Saint-Étienne
Association Sportive de Saint-Étienne Loire (), abbreviated as A.S.S.E. () and commonly known as Saint-Étienne, is a French professional football club based in Saint-Étienne, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. The club was founded in 1933 and competes in Ligue 2, the second division of French football. Saint-Étienne's home ground is the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard. Saint-Étienne have won ten Ligue 1 titles, six Coupe de France titles, a Coupe de la Ligue title and five Trophée des Champions. They have also won the Ligue 2 championship on three occasions. The club achieved most of its honours in the 1960s and 1970s under the leadership of managers Jean Snella, Albert Batteux, and Robert Herbin. In 1976, the club reached the final of the European Cup. Saint-Étienne is known as ''Les Verts'' meaning "the Greens" due to its home colours. They have a longstanding rivalry with nearby team Olympique Lyonnais, against whom they contest the '' Derby rhônalpin''. In 2009, the club added ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Paris Saint-Germain FC
Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain () or simply PSG, is a French professional Association football, football club based in Paris. They compete in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top division of Football in France, French football. With List of football clubs by competitive honours won, 52 major trophies won, PSG are Football records and statistics in France#Total titles won (1918–present), the most decorated club in France and are generally considered the country's biggest club. Founded in 1970, following the merger of Paris FC and Stade Saint-Germain, PSG have the most consecutive seasons playing in France's top flight. They are the most popular football club in France and one of the most widely supported teams in the world. They are nicknamed the ''Les Rouge-et-Bleu'' (The Red-and-Blues), for the shirt colour that also includes white, and their crest features the Eiffel Tower and a fleur-de-lis. The team has a lon ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

FC Nantes
Football Club de Nantes, commonly referred to as FC Nantes or simply Nantes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Naunnt''), is a French professional association football, football club based in Nantes in Pays de la Loire. The club was founded on 21 April 1943, during World War II, as a result of local clubs based in the city coming together to form one large club. From 1992 to 2007, the club was referred to as FC Nantes Atlantique before reverting to its current name at the start of the 2007–08 Ligue 2, 2007–08 season. Nantes play in Ligue 1, the first division of Football in France. Nantes is one of the List of French football champions, most successful clubs in French football, having won eight Ligue 1 titles, four Coupe de France wins and attained one Coupe de la Ligue victory. The club is famous for its ''jeu à la nantaise'' (), its collective spirit, mainly advocated under coaches José Arribas, Jean-Claude Suaudeau and Raynald Denoueix and for its youth system, which has pro ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Association Football
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular field called a Football pitch, pitch. The objective of the game is to Scoring in association football, score more goals than the opposing team by moving the ball beyond the goal line into a rectangular-framed Goal (sport), goal defended by the opposing team. Traditionally, the game has been played over two 45-minute halves, for a total match time of 90 minutes. With an estimated 250 million players active in over 200 countries and territories, it is the world's most popular sport. Association football is played in accordance with the Laws of the Game (association football), Laws of the Game, a set of rules that has been in effect since 1863 and maintained by the International Football Association Board, IFAB since 1886. The game is pla ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

AJ Auxerre
Association de la Jeunesse Auxerroise (), commonly known as AJ Auxerre or by the abbreviation AJA, is a French professional association football, football club based in the Communes of France, commune of Auxerre in Burgundy. The club plays in Ligue 1, the top division of Football in France, French football, since the 2024–25 season after securing promotion from Ligue 2 as winners of the 2023–24 season. Auxerre plays its home matches at the Stade de l'Abbé-Deschamps, on the banks of the Yonne (river), Yonne River. The team is managed by Christophe Pélissier (footballer), Christophe Pélissier. Auxerre was founded in 1905 and made its debut in the first division of French football in the 1980–81 French Division 1, 1980–81 season, remaining in the premier league until the 2011–12 Ligue 1, 2011–12 season. The club has won the Ligue 1 title once, in the 1995–96 French Division 1, 1995–96 season. Two years prior, Auxerre achieved its first major honour by winning the ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]