Rest assured, winter started well on December 21. But RC Lens has decided to extend the magic of autumn a little, this Friday January 2 in Toulouse. Victorious at the Stadium ahead of TFC (0-3), at the opening of the 17th day of Ligue 1, the Sang & Or secured the honorary title of “fall champion” of the season.
After this 7th success in a row in the championship, Lens has 40 points, 4 ahead of PSG. Pierre Sage’s men will therefore not be able to be caught up at the end of this day and will therefore be at the top of Ligue 1 halfway through the season. Because that’s what it’s all about: the autumn champion is the team which is in the lead at the end of the first leg of the championship.
𝑵𝒐𝒖𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒆́𝒆, 𝒎𝒆̂𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒓𝒆́𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔. 🎉
With great seriousness, RC Lens won in the Pink City, achieving a 7th success in @Ligue1 and finished the first leg of the championship in the lead. Well done gentlemen! 👏@ToulouseFC 0⃣-3⃣ RC Lens#TFCRCL pic.twitter.com/rxEKkS8FlF
— Racing Club de Lens (@RCLens) January 2, 2026
Until the 2023-24 season, you had to wait until the 19th day (out of 38) to reach this stage. Since Ligue 1 was reduced to 18 teams and 34 days, we reach half of the championship from the 17th day. Usually, this title is awarded before the winter break, hence its name.
Lens on a pace comparable to PSG of the last two seasons
With 13 wins, 1 draw and 3 defeats in 17 matches, the Lensois are on the same pace as PSG two seasons ago, who also arrived at mid-season with 40 points and had been crowned champion of France. Last season, the Parisians, also champions, had 3 more (43).
“It’s a great reward for the players even if it’s honorary,” said Lens coach Pierre Sage. We can’t take it away from them. » On the other hand, autumn champion is not a panacea: it does not guarantee, far from it, being crowned champion (for good) at the end of the season. Since 1975, only 53% of fall champions have ultimately lifted the trophy.
10 – The last 10 Autumn Champions in Ligue 1:
25/26 : Lens (?)
24/25: PSG 🏆at the end of the season
23/24 : PSG 🏆
22/23 : PSG 🏆
21/22 : PSG 🏆
20/21 : Lyon (4e)
19/20 : PSG 🏆
18/19 : PSG 🏆
17/18 : PSG 🏆
16/17 : Nice (3e)Augur. #TFCRCL pic.twitter.com/IEmj9nCl4D
— OptaJean (@OptaJean) January 2, 2026
Since the arrival of QSI at the head of PSG in 2011, the capital club has been autumn champion 11 times, out of 15 possible, only dethroned in 2014-2015 by Marseille (final ranking: 4th), in 2016-2017 by Nice (3rd), in 2020-1921 by Lyon (4th) and therefore this season by Lens.
48 of the last 50 European champions have finished in the top 4
Please note that the last two times Paris was not autumn champion, in 2021 and 2017, it was not French champion at the end of the season. However, and this is rather bad news for Lens, it was not the autumn champion who had been crowned since it was respectively Lille and Monaco who had, at the time, lifted Hexagoal.
Where Lens can, on the other hand, be proud of is that statistically, the autumn champion almost automatically finishes in the top 4. For 50 years, there have only been two instances of teams leading at mid-season and which finished beyond 4th place: Auxerre in 1993 and Bordeaux in 2010 (both 6th).
