Preview: Lens vs Nice - prediction, team news, lineups

In search of their first Coupe de France title in club history, Lens will square off with Nice in the final at the Stade de France on Friday.

To get to this stage, Les Sang et Or defeated Toulouse 4-1 last month, while Nice stunned Strasbourg 2-0.

Match preview

Although they fell just short of winning Ligue 1, this has been a sensational season by many people’s estimations for Lens.

Pierre Sage guided this team to a second-place finish in the league for the first time since 2022-23, and on Friday, he can lead them to their first trophy since capturing Ligue 2 in 2008-09.

This upcoming game will mark their fourth appearance in a Coupe de France final, with this team losing two of those previous three encounters by a single goal.

In their four tournament fixtures leading up to this final, they have netted a combined 16 goals while conceding six.

Domestically, this season the northern French club have lost two of their three outings in the French capital, not far from Saint-Denis where Friday's final occurs, with their lone victory coming at Paris FC in February (5-0).

Les Sang et Or are unbeaten in two of their previous three matches against Nice as the home team, though they have not beaten them outside Lens since the 2006 Ligue 1 campaign (2-1).

You might not know it by their league form in 2025-26, but Nice have posted some impressive results in this competition.

To get to this stage, they eliminated three Ligue 1 sides, while also defeating Montpellier and Saint-Etienne, who were in the top-flight a season ago.

Claude Puel’s men are on the brink of relegation, headed to a two-leg playoff versus Saint-Etienne and on Friday they will compete in the Coupe de France final for the second time this decade.

Historically, this club have won three of their five appearances at this stage of the tournament but lost the only time they reached the final this century at the Stade de France against Nantes in 2022 (1-0).

Nice have conceded a goal or fewer in all but one Coupe de France affair this season, collecting consecutive clean sheets in this competition.

Le Gym are unbeaten in seven of their previous eight meetings against Lens across all competitions, having won their only prior Coupe de France match against them in 1954 (5-0).

Lens Coupe de France form:

Lens form (all competitions):

Nice Coupe de France form:

Nice form (all competitions):

Team News

A hamstring strain could keep Regis Gurtner and Samson Baidoo on the Lens sidelines for this one, while Jonathan Gradit has a lower leg injury and is unlikely to feature.

Florian Thauvin, Allan Saint-Maximin, Matthieu Udol and Adrien Thomasson all scored in their convincing home triumph versus Toulouse to propel them into the final.

At Nice, Moise Bombito is questionable due to a lower leg issue, while Mohamed Abdelmonem and Youssouf Ndayishimiye have muscle problems and Everton Pereira is questionable because of a sore ankle.

Elye Wahi netted a second-half brace in their semi-final triumph over Strasbourg, with Maxime Dupe needing to stop just one shot for the clean sheet.

Lens possible starting lineup:

Risser; Ganiou, Celik, Sarr; Aguilar, Thomasson, Bulatovic, Udol; Thauvin, Saint-Maximin; Edouard

Nice possible starting lineup:

Diouf; Mendy, Bah, Oppong; Clauss, Vanhoutte, Boudaoui, Sanson; Cho, Diop; Wahi

We say: Lens 2-0 Nice

It seems strange to say, but Nice might have bigger things to think about than lifting a trophy, as relegation could be catastrophic, and we wonder how focused they will be with their two-leg playoff on the horizon.

Lens, on the other hand, have been the far more consistent and balanced of the two, and we trust that even in a one-off game they will take it to Nice and earn a well-deserved trophy.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.