Preview: Marseille vs Toulouse - prediction, team news, lineups

Meeting for the third time at the Coupe de France, Marseille and Toulouse will seek a place in the semi-finals when the two sides square off at Stade Velodrome on Wednesday.

A convincing 3-0 win over Rennes enabled OM to advance into the quarter-finals, while Toulouse managed to squeak past Amiens 1-0.

Match preview

Unlike their Ligue 1 form throughout most of 2026, Marseille have been simply dominant in the Coupe de France all season long.

The 10-time winners of this competition have won their three Coupe de France affairs thus far by a combined margin of 18-0, though Stade Rennais were the only top-tiered side they have faced over that stretch.

Wednesday will mark Habib Beye’s first match of this competition at this club since taking over from Roberto De Zerbi, and the former Marseille right back has lost just one home contest in this tournament as a manager, when his Red Star team were beaten 2-0 by Monaco in 2021.

On Wednesday, he can guide this team to their first semi-final appearance since 2016, when they went all the way to the final and lost to Paris Saint-Germain 4-2.

Les Olympiens have not lost a Coupe de France affair in normal time at Stade Velodrome since Nice beat them 5-4 in 2014, but they were beaten in their previous quarter-final home outing at this tournament versus Annecy on penalties in 2023.

Marseille are unbeaten in 17 successive matches played against Toulouse across all competitions, with their last win over them at the Velodrome coming in Ligue 1 last year (3-2).

This event seems to be the one that Toulouse thrive at, making it into the quarter-finals last month for a third time this decade.

That said, it has been a bit of a grind for Carles Martinez’s men this time around, scraping through with narrow one-goal triumphs over lower-tiered sides Lyon La Duchere and Amiens, while eliminating Angers on penalties.

Meanwhile, they have not lost a quarter-final match at this tournament since 1993 (1-0 versus Stade Lavallois), and they won their previous match in the last eight at Stadium de Toulouse, 6-1 over Rodez.

Toulouse have lost their previous three away matches played across all competitions but have not been beaten at the Coupe de France on the road since Rouen eliminated them in a marathon penalty shootout in 2024.

Two of their previous three Coupe de France quarter-finals played this century ended with them advancing, though neither of those triumphs occured away from home.

Not since a 2012 Ligue 1 contest have they beaten Marseille at Stade Velodrome (1-0), while their only victory against them in this competition came in Toulouse in the third round of 1984 (2-1).

Marseille Coupe de France form:

Marseille form (all competitions):

Toulouse Coupe de France form:

Toulouse form (all competitions):

Team News

Expect Leonardo Balerdi to miss this game, with the Marseille skipper currently dealing with a head injury, while Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg will be suspended.

Amine Gouiri, Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang and Mason Greenwood all found the back of the net for them in the round of 16, with the former Manchester United striker now up to five goals in this competition.

Over at Toulouse, Abu Francis has a lower leg issue, Rasmus Nicolaisen is recovering from a thigh strain and Aron Donnum missed their previous Ligue 1 fixture as he was banned from the club for alleged racial behaviour earlier in the campaign.

Yann Gboho scored a few minutes before the interval against Amiens in early February and Kjetil Haug stopped the only shot that he faced to collect a clean sheet in place of first-choice keeper Guillaume Restes.

Marseille possible starting lineup:

Rulli; Weah, Aguerd, Egan-Riley, Medina; Kondogbia, Timber; Greenwood, Nwanieri, Paixao; Gouiri

Toulouse possible starting lineup:

Restes; Sidibe, McKenzie, Cresswell; Kamanzi, Vossah, Casseres, Methalie; Sauer, Gboho; Emersonn

We say: Marseille 2-1 Toulouse

Toulouse have proven to be a strong tournament side this decade, but Marseille have been their Achilles heel for so long that we believe it may be getting to their heads.

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