Nantes lifted the French Cup for the first time in 22 years after a narrow win over Nice at the Stade de France.
Ludovic Blas scored the only goal from the penalty spot two minutes into the second half after Hicham Boudaoui handballed in the area.
Nice came closest to equalising when Andy Delort’s effort was cleared off the line by Andrei Girotto late on.
It is the fourth time Nantes have won the French Cup and their first major trophy since 2001’s Ligue 1 title.
It also means a place in the Europa League next season, their first European campaign for 20 years.
That represents a dramatic turnaround in fortunes for Antoine Kombouare’s side, who needed to win a relegation play-off to stay in the French top flight last season.
Saturday’s match was the first French Cup final since 2014 to not feature Paris St-Germain, who Nice beat on penalties in the last 16 in January.
Line-ups
Nice
Formation 4-4-2
- 1Bulka
- 23Lotomba
- 25TodiboBooked at 42mins
- 4Costa SantosBooked at 79mins
- 26BardSubstituted forGuessandat 86′minutes
- 28BoudaouiBooked at 55minsSubstituted forKluivertat 57′minutes
- 8RosarioSubstituted forLeminaat 63′minutesBooked at 90mins
- 19Thuram-Ulien
- 11Gouiri
- 9DolbergSubstituted forBrahimiat 63′minutes
- 7Delort
Substitutes
- 5Daniliuc
- 6Schneiderlin
- 12Amavi
- 14Brahimi
- 18Lemina
- 21Kluivert
- 22Stengs
- 24Guessand
- 40BenÃtez
Nantes
Formation 3-5-2
- 1Lafont
- 21Castelletto
- 3Girotto
- 4Pallois
- 11CocoSubstituted forPereira da Silvaat 83′minutes
- 10Blas
- 18Moutoussamy
- 5ChirivellaSubstituted forCyprienat 72′minutes
- 29Merlin
- 23Kolo MuaniBooked at 90mins
- 27SimonSubstituted forBukariat 72′minutes
Substitutes
- 2Pereira da Silva
- 6Pereira De Sa
- 7Coulibaly
- 8Cyprien
- 12Appiah
- 16Descamps
- 20Augustin
- 24Corchia
- 26Bukari
- Referee:
- Stéphanie Frappart
