Coupe de France: before Cannes, the other 4th division clubs qualified for the semi-finals since 2000

And what if, in the end, there were two left? It seems improbable and yet it is still possible on paper. Nothing says that Cannes and Saint-Brieuc, two clubs from Nationale 2, the 4th national division, will not meet in the final on the pitch of the Stade de France, on May 24. If the adventure continues for the Côte d'Azur club, which beat En Avant de Guingamp , a Ligue 2 resident, this Tuesday (3-1), it would take a miracle to see the Bretons defeat PSG , the impressive leader of Ligue 1, this Wednesday in Rennes (9:10 p.m.).

Since 2000, six 4th division clubs, including Cannes, have reached the last four of the competition. From the most recent to the oldest, there is first, three years ago, FC Versailles 78. Now in the National, the Yvelines team had sold its skin dearly on the pitch of the Allianz Riviera in Nice (L1), only giving in (0-2) in the second half. In the 8th finals, the Parisians had achieved the feat of winning (1-0) in Toulouse (L1), before defeating Bergerac in the next round, the other N2 team still in the race (1-1, 5-4 on the tab).

The previous year, in 2021, GFA Rumilly-Vallières had stood out. The Haut-Savoyards had then reached the semi-final after pinning Annecy, Le Puy, and Toulouse (again!), before taking the lesson against Monaco (1-5), not without having opened the score. Tchouaméni, Ben Yedder, Fabregas and Golovin had been their executioners before joining PSG in the final.

Finalist in 1927 (beaten by OM), US Quevilly distinguished itself again in the 2009-2010 edition. The Normans reached the semi-finals of the competition by eliminating three professional clubs: Angers (L2, 1-0), Stade Rennais (L1, 1-0), and Boulogne (L1, 3-1). Beaten by PSG with a goal from Erding, they consoled themselves with promotion to the National and went to the final two years later, with a defeat (0-1) against OL.

2007 marked Montceau-les-Mines' adventure in the competition. The Burgundians had the luxury of taking out the Girondins de Bordeaux (2-2, 5-4 on penalties), then RC Lens, then 2nd in Ligue 1 (1-0), before falling, weapons in hand, to FC Sochaux. At home, they held on for more than 90 minutes before finally giving in during extra time (0-2). Today, Montceau plays in N3.

The most beautiful epic of a level 4 club in this millennium remains of course that of Calais. After having dismissed Strasbourg and Bordeaux, two Ligue 1 clubs, the Northerners failed by a hair's breadth against Nantes at the Stade de France. Jérôme Dutitre even allowed them to dream, before a double from Antoine Sibierski including a penalty in the last seconds (2-1). The images of Mickaël Landreau, sharing the trophy with Réginald Becque, are still fresh in our memories.