Lens beat Nice to win French Cup for first time

Lens captured the French Cup for the first time in their history with a 3-1 win over Nice in the final at the Stade de France. Florian Thauvin delivered a standout performance, opening the scoring after 25 minutes before supplying the corner that Odsonne Edouard headed in to double the lead late in the first half. Nice teenager Djibril Coulibaly pulled one back with his first senior goal just before the interval, and the Riviera side struck the woodwork twice after the restart.

However, Lens sealed the victory when substitute Abdallah Sima reacted quickest to stab home in the seventy‑eighth minute after Dante inadvertently headed towards his own goal. The triumph crowns a superb season under coach Pierre Sage, with the northern club also finishing second in Ligue 1 and qualifying for the Champions League. It ends decades of frustration for Lens, who had lost all three of their previous French Cup finals.