# 2021–22 Coupe de France

The 2021–22 Coupe de France was the 105th season of the main football cup competition of France. The competition was organised by the French Football Federation (FFF) and was open to all clubs in French football, as well as clubs from the overseas departments and territories (Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Martinique, Mayotte, New Caledonia, Tahiti, Réunion, Saint Martin, and Saint Pierre and Miquelon).
The competition returned largely to the format of 2019–20 after the changes last season due to the COVID-19 pandemic in France. However, on 21 October 2021 it was announced that New Caledonia would not be represented in the competition due to the situation in that territory.
Paris Saint-Germain were the defending champions, but were knocked out in the round of 16 by Nice on penalties. In the final on 7 May, Nantes beat Nice 1–0 to claim their fourth Coupe de France title.

## Dates

Dates for the first two qualifying round, and any preliminaries required, were set by the individual Regional leagues. From round three, the FFF defined the calendar, with rounds up to and including the round of 32 being scheduled for weekends. The later rounds up to, but not including, the final, taking place on midweek evenings. The final was originally scheduled for Saturday 8 May 2022, but moved to 7 May 2022.
| Round | Dates |
| Third round | 18–19 September 2021 |
| Fourth round | 2–3 October 2021 |
| Fifth round | 16–17 October 2021 |
| Sixth round | 30–31 October 2021 |
| Seventh round | 13–14 November 2021 |
| Eighth round | 27–28 November 2021 |
| Round of 64 | 16–19 December 2021 |
| Round of 32 | 2–4 January 2022 |
| Round of 16 | 28–31 January 2022 |
| Quarter-finals | 8–10 February 2022 |
| Semi-finals | 1–2 March 2022 |
| Final | 7 May 2022 |

## Notable rule changes

After gaining a second seventh-round spot last season, Mayotte lost it this season, due to the FFF ruling that there were no stadia in the territory of the standard required to host a seventh-round match. The single qualifying team from Mayotte would therefore play its seventh-round match in mainland France.
After a DNCG ruling excluding Niort from the 2021–22 competition, only 19 Ligue 2 teams entered at the seventh-round stage.
The number of teams qualifying from each region returned to those of the 2019–20 competition, with adjustments to account for the above two points, i.e. 146 rather than 144 mainland teams qualified for the seventh round.
On 21 October 2021, it was announced that no team from New Caledonia would be present in the seventh round, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in New Caledonia, and the imposition of lockdown until 31 October 2021.
On 31 December 2021, due to the rising number of COVID-19 cases, the FFF suspended the competition rule which mandated that teams must field seven players who participated in one of the last two matches, in order to avoid potential postponements. From the Round of 32, teams may field any number of players from their reserve or youth teams.

## Teams
### Round 1 to 6

The first six rounds, and any preliminaries required, were organised by the Regional Leagues and the Overseas Territories, who allowed teams from within their league structure to enter at any point up to the third round. Teams from Championnat National 3 entered at the third round, those from Championnat National 2 entered at the fourth round and those from Championnat National entered at the fifth round.
The number of teams entering at each qualifying round was as follows:
| Region | Prelim | First | Second | Third | Fourth | Fifth |
| Nouvelle-Aquitaine | | 592 | 81 | 12 | 4 | 0 |
| Pays de la Loire | | 482 | 9 | 34 | 2 | 3 |
| Centre-Val de Loire | 50 | 109 | 67 | 10 | 6 | 2 |
| Corsica | | | 4 | 26 | 0 | 1 |
| Bourgogne-Franche-Comté | | 324 | 58 | 12 | 1 | 0 |
| Grand Est | | 820 | 70 | 54 | 3 | 1 |
| Méditerranée | 30 | 185 | 14 | 6 | 7 | 0 |
| Occitanie | | 424 | 66 | 11 | 3 | 1 |
| Hauts-de-France | | 818 | 187 | 10 | 2 | 2 |
| Normandy | | 318 | 59 | 11 | 2 | 1 |
| Brittany | | 578 | 105 | 11 | 4 | 2 |
| Paris IDF | | 360 | 102 | 9 | 9 | 2 |
| Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes | | 836 | 58 | 38 | 8 | 3 |
| Réunion | | | | | 16 | 0 |
| Mayotte | 32 | 48 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Guadeloupe | | | | | | 8 |
| Martinique | | | | | | 8 |
| French Guiana | | | 2 | 31 | 0 | 0 |
| Saint Pierre and Miquelon | | 2 | 1 | | | |
| Total | 112 | 5896 | 883 | 275 | 67 | 34 |
* ↑ winner entered into the Pays-de-la-Loire draw

### Round 7

The 146 qualifiers from the Regional Leagues were joined by the 10 qualifiers from the Overseas Territories and 19 eligible 2021–22 Ligue 2 teams. The qualifiers from Réunion, Martinique, Guadeloupe and French Guiana play off in internal matches.

#### Regional Leagues

* ↑ A technical challenge on the outcome of the sixth round game led to the game being ordered to be replayed on 7 November 2021, however the appeal commission overruled the decision, re-instating the original result.

#### Overseas Territories teams

* ↑ Winner of 2020–21 Tahiti Cup.

### Round 8

The winners of the seventh round matches in Guadeloupe and Martinique played their eighth round matches at home against teams from mainland France. Should the team from Tahiti win their seventh round match, they would also play a home game against a team from mainland France. On 2 November 2021 a draw took place to prioritise the list of National, National 2 and National 3 clubs who had put themselves forward as candidates for overseas travel. The highest prioritised team which qualifies for the eighth round will travel to Guadeloupe, the second highest will travel to Martinique and the third highest will travel to Tahiti if required.

#### Priority list of mainland teams

* ASC Saint-Apollinaire (5)
* SO Cholet (3)
* US Sarre-Union (5)
* Football Club 93 Bobigny-Bagnolet-Gagny (4)
* US Philbertine Football (5)
* Dinan-Léhon FC (5)
* CMS Oissel (5)
* Wasquehal Football (5)
* Évreux FC 27 (5)
* ES Thaon (5)
* FC Versailles 78 (4)
* Olympique Saumur FC (5)

### Round of 64

The 44 qualifying teams from Round 8 were joined by the 20 2021–22 Ligue 1 teams. 32 ties were drawn in regional groups.

### Later rounds

Later rounds are open draws with no regional grouping.

## Seventh round

Due to there being no New Caledeonia team in the seventh round draw, a mainland team were awarded a bye to the eighth round.
* The seventh round in Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana and Réunion took place between the two qualifying teams from each territory, and are pre-drawn by the local league.
* Teams were divided into ten groups, by geography and to ensure the groups are balanced in terms of the levels of the teams. The teams from Tahiti and Mayotte were included in groups E and I respectively. An exempt ball was included in group J.

### Main draw

The main draw was carried out on 3 November 2021. Ties will be played on 12, 13 and 14 November 2021. Several ties were played at alternate stadia due to the stadium of the home clubs not being of sufficient standard.

#### Group A

* ↑ Tie was originally reversed from original draw due to UL Plantières Metz not having a ground of the required standard. On 10 November 2021 it was announced that funding had been raised to pay the security costs at Stade Saint-Symphorien, near Metz, and the original tie was reinstated.

#### Group D

* ↑ A technical challenge on the outcome of the sixth round game led to the game being ordered to be replayed on 7 November 2021, however the appeal commission overruled the decision, re-instating the original result.
* ↑ A technical challenge on the outcome of the sixth round game led to the game being ordered to be replayed on 7 November 2021, however the appeal commission overruled the decision, re-instating the original result.

#### Group F

* ↑ The match on 14 November was halted when an AS Beauvais Oise player was badly injured. A helicopter was summoned and landed at the ground, delaying the restart. With no floodlights available, the match could not be completed. US Mineurs Waziers led 1–0 at the time. The match was replayed on 21 November.

#### Group J

PD Ergué-Gabéric (6) were drawn as the team given a bye into the eighth round.

## Eighth round

The eighth round draw was pre-determined at the same time as the seventh-round draw. Groupings were carried forward from the seventh round, with the mainland teams travelling for overseas ties replaced by overseas teams that were travelling to the mainland.

### Overseas ties

* ↑ Game did not take place in Guadeloupe due to violence and curfew in the territory. Instead, the game took place in mainland France a week later.
* ↑ Game did not take place in Martinique due to social unrest on the island. Instead, the game took place in mainland France later in December.

### Group C

* ↑ Original tie, scheduled for 28 November, postponed due to snow.

### Group J
## Round of 64

The round of 64 draw was made on 29 November 2021, with teams divided into four groups by geography and to ensure the groups were balanced in terms of the levels of the teams.

### Group B

* ↑ Match abandoned after half time with score 1–1 due to crowd trouble. On 27 December 2021, the French Football Federation announced that both Paris FC and Lyon were disqualified from the cup, with Paris FC playing their next five home matches outside of their Stade Charléty home ground.

### Group C

* ↑ Tie reversed after ES Cannet Rocheville were unable to provide a stadium. Requests to play in Cannes were rejected due to security concerns.

### Group D

* ↑ Tie reversed after Vénissieux FC were unable to provide a stadium.

## Round of 32

The round of 32 draw was made on 19 December 2021. This was an open draw.
* ↑ Nice were due to meet either Paris FC or Lyon in the round of 32, but their round of 64 match was abandoned after half time due to crowd trouble; as a result of the disqualification of both teams, Nice were awarded a bye to the round of 16.
* ↑ Tie reversed due to AS Vitré not being able to provide a stadium of the required standard.

## Round of 16

The round of 16 draw was made on 4 January 2022. This was an open draw.
* ↑ Tie reversed due to FC Versailles 78 not being able to provide a suitable stadium.

## Quarter-finals

The quarter-finals draw was made on 31 January 2022. This was an open draw.

## Semi-finals

The semi-finals draw was made on 10 February 2022. This was an open draw.
* ↑ Tie reversed due to FC Versailles 78 not being able to provide a suitable stadium.