The 2019–20 Coupe de France preliminary rounds made up the qualifying competition to decide which teams took part in the main competition from round 7. This is the 103rd season of the main football cup competition of France. The competition is organised by the French Football Federation (FFF) and is open to all clubs in French football, as well as clubs from the overseas departments and territories (Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Martinique, Mayotte, New Caledonia (qualification via 2019 New Caledonia Cup), Tahiti (qualification via 2018–19 Tahiti Cup), Réunion, Saint Martin and Saint Pierre and Miquelon). A total of 156 teams qualified for round 7 from this process.
The six (or more, if required) Preliminary rounds were organised by the 13 Regional leagues from the mainland, and the 6 Regional leagues of the overseas departments and territories. They took place between February and October 2019.
Schedule Other than the overseas leagues, and those regional leagues which choose to have the early rounds before the summer break, the general schedule for the preliminary rounds was as follows:
RoundDateFirst round 13 August 2019Second round 27 August 2019Third round 15 September 2019Fourth round 29 September 2019Fifth round 13 October 2019Sixth round 27 October 2019
Leagues The details of the qualifying rounds for each league is separated out to individual articles, to avoid this article being too lengthy.
Overseas leagues
A total of eleven clubs qualified from the overseas leagues, two each from Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Martinique and Réunion, one each from Mayotte, New Caledonia and Tahiti. In 2018–19, Aiglon du Lamentin from Martinique were the longest surviving in the main competition, reaching the round of 64 before losing to Orléans after extra time.
Mayotte The first-round draw was originally made on 14 February 2019, with a total of 48 clubs participating from Régionale 1, Régionale 2 and Régionale 3 divisions. This draw was subsequently cancelled, and replaced on 20 February 2019 with an expanded draw involving 65 clubs, including teams from Régionale 4. To achieve this, a Preliminary round with one match was required.
The second-round draw was published on 19 April 2019, with 16 ties being drawn.
The third-round draw was published on 4 June 2019, with 8 ties being drawn.
The fourth-round draw was published on 16 July 2019, with 4 ties being drawn.
The fifth-round draw was published on 16 August 2019, with 2 ties being drawn.
The details of the sixth-round match were published on 8 October 2019.
FC Mtsapéré qualified for the seventh round.
Réunion A total of 48 teams from Régionale 1 and Régionale 2 divisions entered the competition, which started with a Preliminary round, analogous to the second round in the overall Preliminary round structure, on the weekend of 20 and 21 April 2019. 20 of the 28 Régionale 2 clubs entered at this stage, with the remaining 8 and the 14 Régionale 1 clubs being exempt to the round of 16, analogous to the third round.
Rounds three to six were straight knockouts, each drawn in two groups, to produce one winning team who would play in the seventh round at home and one winning team who would travel to France.
JS Saint-Pierroise and US Sainte-Marienne qualified for the seventh round.
French Guiana The initial draw was made on 8 July 2019, with a total of 32 teams competing from Régionale 1 and Régionale 2 divisions.
The draw for the fourth round was published on 16 September 2019. Eight ties were drawn.
The draw for the fifth round was published on 30 September 2019. Four ties were drawn.
The draw for the sixth round was published on 16 October 2019. The two final ties were drawn, the winners of which qualify for the seventh round.
Martinique A total of 52 teams from the three Régionale divisions entered the competition. Twelve teams (eleven from Régionale 1 and one from Régionale 2) were awarded a bye in the opening round, leaving 20 ties involving 40 teams. Only 19 were played, with the tie between Olympique Le Marin and AS Silver Star being void due to AS Silver Star withdrawing.
In the third round, the 19 winners were joined by AS Silver Star plus the twelve original byes, with 16 ties drawn. In the fourth round, eight ties were drawn.
The fifth-round draw was made on 30 September 2019, with four ties drawn.
The sixth-round draw was made on 12 October 2019, with two ties drawn.
Golden Star and Club Franciscain qualified for the seventh round.
Guadeloupe The draw for the opening round was made on 10 August 2019, with a total of 52 clubs participating. To align with the other qualifying competitions, this competition started at the second round. Twelve clubs from the Régional 1 division were exempted to the third round.
The sixteen ties of the third round were drawn on 3 September 2019. The fourth-round draw, with eight ties, followed on 20 September 2019. The draw for the fifth round was made at the start of October 2019. The sixth round was drawn in the week of 25 October 2019. The sixth round was drawn in the week of 25 October 2019.
Jeunesse Evolution and CS Moulien qualified for the seventh round.
Saint Pierre and Miquelon Following a debut last year the Overseas Collectivity of Saint Pierre and Miquelon had a qualifying competition again. With only three teams in the collectivity, there is just one match in each of two rounds, with one team receiving a bye to the second round. The winner, AS Îlienne Amateurs, gained entry to the third-round draw of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region.
Nouvelle-Aquitaine
A total of twelve teams qualified from the Nouvelle-Aquitaine Preliminary rounds. In 2018–19 Bergerac Périgord FC progressed furthest in the main competition, reaching the round of 32 before losing to Orléans after extra time.
The first two rounds of the qualifying competition took place on the weekends of 25 August and 1 September 2019. A total of 536 teams participated in the first round, being all the engaged teams from Régional 3 (tier 8) and below, plus 17 teams from Régional 2 (tier 7), selected according to performance in last years competition. 70 teams entered at the second-round stage, being the remaining 39 teams from Régional 2 and 31 teams from Régional 1 (tier 6).
The third-round draw was made on 5 September 2019. The 11 teams from Championnat National 3 (tier 5) entered at this stage.
The fourth-round draw was made on 20 September 2019. The four teams from Championnat National 2 (tier 4) entered at this stage. 47 ties were drawn.
The fifth-round draw was made on 3 October 2019. The single team from Championnat National (tier 3) entered at this stage. 24 ties were drawn.
The sixth-round draw was made on 17 October 2019. Twelve ties were drawn.
Pays de la Loire
A total of eleven teams qualified from the Pays de la Loire Preliminary rounds. In 2018–19, Les Herbiers VF progressed furthest in the main competition, reaching the round of 32 before losing FC Villefranche.
The first two rounds of the qualifying competition took place on the weekends of 25 August and 1 September 2019. 438 teams entered in the first round, comprising 353 from the district leagues (tier 9 and below) and 85 teams from Régional 3 (tier 8). The remaining 11 teams from Régional 3 were exempted to the second round, joining at that stage along with the 38 from Régional 2 (tier 7).
The third-round draw took place on 4 September 2019. The 21 teams from Régional 1 (tier 6) and the 11 teams from Championnat National 3 (tier 5) entered at this stage.
The fourth-round draw took place on 18 September 2019. The single team from Championnat National 2 (tier 4) entered at this stage, and 42 ties were drawn.
The fifth-round draw took place on 2 October 2019. The two teams from Championnat National (tier 3) entered at this stage, and 22 ties were drawn.
The sixth-round draw took place on 16 October 2019. 11 ties were drawn.
Centre-Val de Loire
A total of five teams qualified from the Centre-Val de Loire Preliminary rounds. In 2018–19, Saint-Pryvé Saint-Hilaire FC progressed furthest in the main competition, reaching the round of 32 before losing to Stade Rennais.
The first two rounds of qualifying took place on the weekends of 25 August and 1 September 2019. 225 teams entered in these rounds, from tier 6 (Regional division 1) and below. 11 teams were exempted to the second round, meaning 107 ties in the first round and 59 ties in the second round.
The third-round draw was made on 5 September 2019, with the 11 Championnat National 3 clubs entering, resulting in 35 ties.
The fourth-round draw was made on 19 September 2019, with the 5 Championnat National 1 clubs entering, resulting in 20 ties.
The fifth-round draw was made on 3 October 2019.
The sixth-round draw was made on 15 October 2019.
Corsica
Two teams qualified from the Corsica Preliminary rounds. In 2018–19, SC Bastia progressed the furthest in the main competition, reaching the round of 16 before losing to Caen after a penalty shoot-out.
The opening round of the qualifying competition, analogous to the second round, took place on 1 September 2019. 14 teams from Régional 1 (tier 6) and below entered at this stage, with 12 given byes to the third round.
The third-round draw took place on 5 September 2019. The four teams from Championnat National 3 (tier 5) entered at this stage. One team, Oriente FC, were given a bye to the fourth round.
The fourth-round draw took place on 19 September 2019. The single team from Championnat National 2 (tier 4) entered at this stage, and six ties were drawn.
The fifth-round draw took place on 3 October 2019. The two teams from Championnat National (tier 3) entered at this stage, and four ties were drawn.
The sixth-round draw took place on 17 October 2019, with two ties drawn.
Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
A total of eight teams qualified from the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Preliminary rounds. In 2018–19, none of the qualified teams made it past the eighth round.
The first two rounds of qualifying took place on the weekends of 17/18 and 24/25 August 2019. A total of 326 teams from Regional 2 (tier 7) and below were included in the draw, with 30 Regional 2 teams given byes to the second round.
The third-round draw was made on 3 September 2019. The 22 teams from Regional 1 (tier 6) and the 11 teams from Championnat National 3 (tier 5) joined at this stage.
The fourth-round draw was made on 17 September 2019. The 3 teams from Championnat National 2 (tier 4) joined at this stage.
The fifth-round draw was made on 2 October 2019. 16 ties were drawn.
The sixth-round draw was made on 16 October 2019. Eight ties were drawn.
Grand Est
A total of 19 teams qualified from the Grand Est Preliminary rounds. In 2018–19, three teams made it as far as the round of 64. SC Schiltigheim lost to Dijon, US Raon-l'Étape lost to Iris Club de Croix and Olympique Strasbourg lost to Saint-Étienne.
The first round of the qualifying competition took place during the 2018–19 season, during June 2019. It consisted of 698 clubs from the district leagues (tier 9 and below of the French league system) with some clubs from the Régional 3 division (tier 8) to shape the draw.
The second round took place in August, with most ties on the weekend of 18 August, and the remainder on the weekend of 25 August. 120 teams, mainly from tiers 7 (Régional 2) and 8 (Régional 3) with two from tier 6 (Régional 1), join at this stage. One team, ASTR Wittenheim, gained re-entry as a Lucky loser due to mergers and liquidations of clubs that have taken place between the first and second rounds.
The third-round draw was made on 29 August 2019. The remaining 12 Régional 2, the remaining 36 Régional 1 teams and the 11 Championnat National 3 (tier 5) teams joined at this stage. One second round winner, Foyer Barsequanais, received a bye to the fourth round.