Paris Saint-Germain F.C. in international football
French club in international football / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, an association football team based in Paris, is the joint-most decorated French team in international club competitions. PSG have won two international titles: the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1996 and the UEFA Intertoto Cup in 2001. In addition, they were runners-up in the 1996 UEFA Super Cup, the 1996–97 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and the 2019–20 UEFA Champions League. Their Cup Winners' Cup victory makes PSG the sole French side to have won this trophy as well as one of only two French clubs to have won a major European competition and the youngest European team to do so.
Club | Paris Saint-Germain |
---|---|
Most appearances | Marquinhos (91) |
Top scorer | Kylian Mbappé (42) |
First entry | 1982–83 European Cup Winners' Cup |
Latest entry | 2024–25 UEFA Champions League |
Titles | |
Cup Winners' Cup | 1 |
Intertoto Cup | 1 |
The Parisians first participated in international competitions in the 1982–83 season, when they qualified for the now-defunct Cup Winners' Cup as Coupe de France winners. They made their European debut against Lokomotiv Sofia in the first round on 15 September 1982, and went on to reach the quarter-finals, being eliminated by Waterschei Thor. PSG then debuted in the UEFA Europa League in the 1984–85 campaign before taking their first steps in Europe's premier club competition, the UEFA Champions League in the 1986–87 season.
Between 1992 and 1997, the club appeared in five semi-finals in a row; three in the Cup Winners' Cup, one in the Champions League and another in the UEFA Cup. They claimed their maiden European trophy in 1996, defeating Rapid Wien in the Cup Winners' Cup final. This triumph allowed Paris to dispute the UEFA Super Cup in early 1997, succumbing to Juventus. They reached a second consecutive Cup Winners' Cup final in 1997, this time losing to Barcelona. Considered a minor competition, PSG played in the extinct Intertoto Cup once. They did so in 2001, clinching their second and last continental trophy to date over Brescia on away goals in the two-legged final.
PSG had to wait 19 years to play in another final. Led by an array of stars including record appearance maker Marco Verratti and top scorer Edinson Cavani, the club has qualified for UEFA competitions every season since 2010–11. They reached their first UEFA Champions League final in 2020, falling to a narrow defeat at the hands of Bayern Munich. Therefore, Luis Fernandez remains the only manager ever to achieve European success with Paris, having led them to both the Cup Winners' Cup and Intertoto titles. Likewise, Argentinian forward Lionel Messi is the only player in PSG history to have won the Ballon d'Or. He received it in 2021 for his performances that year.