# Ligue 2
**Ligue 2**, currently styled **Ligue 2 BKT** after its title sponsor, is the second division of men's professional football in France, organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) and sitting directly below [Ligue 1](https://www.edgepedia.org/ligue-1) in the French league system.[1](https://profootball.fifa.com/pluginfile.php/1761/mod_resource/content/1/Comparative%20Analysis%20of%20second%20and%20third%20division%20%28FINAL%20-%2031.08.2021%29_compressed.pdf) • [2](https://www.lfp.fr/article/publication-du-calendrier-general-de-la-ligue-2-bkt-pour-la-saison-2025-2026) Clubs move between Ligue 2 and Ligue 1 through promotion and relegation, including a playoff between the division's leading clubs and the lowest-ranked Ligue 1 survivor, and between Ligue 2 and the third-tier National through a further barrage.[1](https://profootball.fifa.com/pluginfile.php/1761/mod_resource/content/1/Comparative%20Analysis%20of%20second%20and%20third%20division%20%28FINAL%20-%2031.08.2021%29_compressed.pdf) • [2](https://www.lfp.fr/article/publication-du-calendrier-general-de-la-ligue-2-bkt-pour-la-saison-2025-2026)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Status | Second tier of French men's professional football, below Ligue 1, above the National[1](https://profootball.fifa.com/pluginfile.php/1761/mod_resource/content/1/Comparative%20Analysis%20of%20second%20and%20third%20division%20%28FINAL%20-%2031.08.2021%29_compressed.pdf) |
| Organizer | Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP)[1](https://profootball.fifa.com/pluginfile.php/1761/mod_resource/content/1/Comparative%20Analysis%20of%20second%20and%20third%20division%20%28FINAL%20-%2031.08.2021%29_compressed.pdf) |
| Promotion | Top two clubs promoted to Ligue 1; the 3rd, 4th, and 5th enter end-of-season playoffs, whose winner meets the 16th-placed Ligue 1 club in a two-legged barrage[1](https://profootball.fifa.com/pluginfile.php/1761/mod_resource/content/1/Comparative%20Analysis%20of%20second%20and%20third%20division%20%28FINAL%20-%2031.08.2021%29_compressed.pdf) • [2](https://www.lfp.fr/article/publication-du-calendrier-general-de-la-ligue-2-bkt-pour-la-saison-2025-2026) |
| Relegation | The 16th-placed Ligue 2 club faces the 3rd-placed National club in a two-legged barrage[2](https://www.lfp.fr/article/publication-du-calendrier-general-de-la-ligue-2-bkt-pour-la-saison-2025-2026) |
| 2025/26 season | Kicked off the weekend of 8 August 2025; playoffs on 12 and 15 May 2026, Ligue 1 barrage on 21 and 24 May 2026[2](https://www.lfp.fr/article/publication-du-calendrier-general-de-la-ligue-2-bkt-pour-la-saison-2025-2026) |
| Financial control | Clubs are subject to the DNCG, which can relegate clubs administratively for financial reasons[3](https://www.lemonde.fr/sport/article/2025/06/24/l-olympique-lyonnais-retrograde-en-ligue-2-par-la-dncg_6615678_3242.html) |
| Top-flight experience | Its clubs collectively total 389 seasons in Ligue 1, second among the big-five second divisions behind Spain's Segunda División[4](https://as.com/futbol/segunda/una-segunda-de-primera-n/) |
## Competition format and calendar
The LFP publishes the general calendar for each season in advance. For 2025/26, the Ligue 2 college chose a start on the weekend of 8 August 2025, a date selected partly to reduce the number of midweek rounds; only two matchdays, the 7th and 12th, were scheduled midweek, on 23 September and 28 October 2025.[2](https://www.lfp.fr/article/publication-du-calendrier-general-de-la-ligue-2-bkt-pour-la-saison-2025-2026) The season runs through the following May, ending after Ligue 1 has concluded its regular rounds so that the promotion barrages can be played.[2](https://www.lfp.fr/article/publication-du-calendrier-general-de-la-ligue-2-bkt-pour-la-saison-2025-2026) • [5](https://www.lemonde.fr/sport/article/2025/08/09/la-ligue-2-reprend-entre-ambitions-affirmees-retours-historiques-et-rivalites-retrouvees_6627624_3242.html)
## Promotion and relegation
**Movement to Ligue 1** follows a layered procedure. After the regular season, the top two clubs are promoted directly, while the clubs finishing 3rd, 4th, and 5th contest playoffs: play-off 1 between the 4th and the 5th, then play-off 2 between that winner and the 3rd.[2](https://www.lfp.fr/article/publication-du-calendrier-general-de-la-ligue-2-bkt-pour-la-saison-2025-2026) The playoff winner then meets the 16th-placed Ligue 1 club in a two-legged accession barrage for a place in the top flight.[1](https://profootball.fifa.com/pluginfile.php/1761/mod_resource/content/1/Comparative%20Analysis%20of%20second%20and%20third%20division%20%28FINAL%20-%2031.08.2021%29_compressed.pdf) • [2](https://www.lfp.fr/article/publication-du-calendrier-general-de-la-ligue-2-bkt-pour-la-saison-2025-2026) This Ligue 1 versus Ligue 2 playoff, introduced from the 2017–18 season, pairs the 18th-placed first-division team with the third-ranked second-division team.[6](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264999323002535)
At the bottom end, the 16th-placed Ligue 2 club plays the 3rd-placed National club over two legs, with the winner taking a Ligue 2 place for the following season.[2](https://www.lfp.fr/article/publication-du-calendrier-general-de-la-ligue-2-bkt-pour-la-saison-2025-2026) Administrative relegation adds a further route into and out of the division: the DNCG, French football's financial watchdog, can demote a club for financial reasons, as it did to [AC Ajaccio](https://www.edgepedia.org/ac-ajaccio) in mid-July 2025, sending the Corsican club down to the National and removing it from the 2025/26 Ligue 2 lineup shortly before the season began.[5](https://www.lemonde.fr/sport/article/2025/08/09/la-ligue-2-reprend-entre-ambitions-affirmees-retours-historiques-et-rivalites-retrouvees_6627624_3242.html)
## Financial oversight and notable cases
The DNCG reviews club budgets before each season, and its decisions can reshape the division. In June 2025 it administratively relegated [Olympique Lyonnais](https://www.edgepedia.org/olympique-lyonnais), one of France's major clubs, to Ligue 2, a measure the LFP had already applied provisionally in the autumn; the announcement came as the club presented its 2025–26 budget.[3](https://www.lemonde.fr/sport/article/2025/06/24/l-olympique-lyonnais-retrograde-en-ligue-2-par-la-dncg_6615678_3242.html) Such cases mean the division's composition can change after the sporting season ends, independent of results on the pitch.[3](https://www.lemonde.fr/sport/article/2025/06/24/l-olympique-lyonnais-retrograde-en-ligue-2-par-la-dncg_6615678_3242.html) • [5](https://www.lemonde.fr/sport/article/2025/08/09/la-ligue-2-reprend-entre-ambitions-affirmees-retours-historiques-et-rivalites-retrouvees_6627624_3242.html)
## Place among European second divisions
The big-five second divisions are among the most evenly matched competitions in Europe. The CIES Football Observatory's cross-league analysis found that the second divisions of the five major European championships emerge as particularly evenly matched, and that, with the exception of French Ligue 1, the big-five competitions belong to the most unbalanced championships, a contrast that reflects how tightly contested second-tier seasons are relative to top flights dominated by a few wealthy clubs.[7](https://football-observatory.com/IMG/pdf/mr28en.pdf)
The division also carries substantial top-flight pedigree. Its clubs' accumulated spells in Ligue 1 total 389 seasons, placing the French second division second among the big five behind England, whose second-tier clubs total 957 top-flight seasons (154 if counted only since the 1992 founding of the Premier League); Spain's Segunda sits ahead of Italy (282 seasons) and Germany (275 seasons).[4](https://as.com/futbol/segunda/una-segunda-de-primera-n/) A 2012 analysis found that 25% of that season's Ligue 2 clubs, 5 of 20, had spent at least 6 of the previous 10 seasons in Ligue 1, a higher share of recent top-flight experience than in the Italian and Spanish second divisions, though below the English Championship's 42% (10 of 24 clubs).[8](https://www.moustachefootballclub.com/articles/2012/8/la-ligue-2-francaise-est-elle-la-meilleure-d-europe--)
## Recent seasons and the changing pyramid
The 2025/26 season opened on 9 August 2025 with promoted [Le Mans](https://www.edgepedia.org/le-mans) drawing 3–3 at Guingamp, and ran to May 2026, with historic clubs such as Saint-Etienne, Reims, and [Montpellier](https://www.edgepedia.org/montpellier) among the sides seeking a return to the elite.[5](https://www.lemonde.fr/sport/article/2025/08/09/la-ligue-2-reprend-entre-ambitions-affirmees-retours-historiques-et-rivalites-retrouvees_6627624_3242.html) The following season underlines the division's turnover: Nantes returned to the second tier in 2026/27 for the first time in 13 years, joining recently relegated clubs and ambitious sides, while newly promoted [FC Sochaux-Montbéliard](https://www.edgepedia.org/fc-sochaux-montbeliard) hosted the opening fixture at the Stade Auguste-Bonal.[9](https://ligue1.com/en/articles/l1_article_5616-)
The pyramid below Ligue 2 is also being restructured. From the 2026–27 season the Fédération Française de Football launches a professional Ligue 3, the first professional men's championship it will organize directly, and renames the lower national divisions for clarity: the current National 2 becomes National 1 and the current National 3 becomes National 2.[10](https://www.fff.fr/article/16778-la-fff-officialise-la-ligue-3-professionnelle.html)
## References
1. [FIFA Comparative Analysis of Second and Third Divisions: France, Ligue 2](https://profootball.fifa.com/pluginfile.php/1761/mod_resource/content/1/Comparative%20Analysis%20of%20second%20and%20third%20division%20%28FINAL%20-%2031.08.2021%29_compressed.pdf)
2. [Publication du calendrier général de la Ligue 2 BKT pour la saison 2025/2026, LFP](https://www.lfp.fr/article/publication-du-calendrier-general-de-la-ligue-2-bkt-pour-la-saison-2025-2026)
3. [L'Olympique lyonnais rétrogradé en Ligue 2 par la DNCG, Le Monde](https://www.lemonde.fr/sport/article/2025/06/24/l-olympique-lyonnais-retrograde-en-ligue-2-par-la-dncg_6615678_3242.html)
4. [Una Segunda de primera, AS](https://as.com/futbol/segunda/una-segunda-de-primera-n/)
5. [La Ligue 2 reprend, avec Saint-Etienne, Reims et Montpellier en tête d'affiches, Le Monde](https://www.lemonde.fr/sport/article/2025/08/09/la-ligue-2-reprend-entre-ambitions-affirmees-retours-historiques-et-rivalites-retrouvees_6627624_3242.html)
6. [Competitive intensity and industry performance of professional sports, ScienceDirect](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264999323002535)
7. [Monthly Report 28: Performance and playing styles in 35 European football leagues, CIES Football Observatory](https://football-observatory.com/IMG/pdf/mr28en.pdf)
8. [La ligue 2 française est-elle la meilleure d'Europe ?, Moustache Football Club](https://www.moustachefootballclub.com/articles/2012/8/la-ligue-2-francaise-est-elle-la-meilleure-d-europe--)
9. [Ligue 2 Preview: The most compelling season in recent memory?, ligue1.com](https://ligue1.com/en/articles/l1_article_5616-)
10. [La FFF officialise la Ligue 3 professionnelle, FFF](https://www.fff.fr/article/16778-la-fff-officialise-la-ligue-3-professionnelle.html)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Sports, games, and recreation › Association football › Football competitions and records › Competitions and recurring events › Domestic leagues and league seasons › Other European domestic leagues › Western, Central, and Nordic top-flight league seasons*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 19, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Sep 19, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
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