If you’ve been following the top leagues in Europe you may have noticed that there are a few popular ones including the Eredivisie and Ligue.
How are these two competitions different?
Here’s what you need to know:
Contents
- 1 The difference between Eredivisie and Ligue 1
- 2 Number of teams involved
- 3 Origin of teams
- 4 Frequency and duration of competitions
- 5 Format of competition
- 6 Squad size
- 7 Qualification for competition
- 8 UEFA competitions placing
- 9 Rewards for winning competition
- 10 Dominance of teams
- 11 Champions League performances
- 12 Verdict
- 13 Conclusion
The difference between Eredivisie and Ligue 1
The Eredivisie is the premier football division in the Netherlands contested by 18 of the country’s best teams. Meanwhile, Ligue 1 on the other hand is contested by 20 teams from France’s top tier.
Here’s a further comparison between the two leagues:
Number of teams involved
The Eredivisie has 18 teams contesting in the league. This is lower than France’s Ligue 1 and other top European leagues that use 20 teams in their top division, such as:
The Bundesliga is the only one of the other top 5 leagues to use 18 teams.
Origin of teams
The teams in the Eredivisie originate from the Netherlands while teams in Ligue 1 are from France.
Here are some of the top teams that play in these leagues:
| Eredivisie | Ligue 1 |
|---|---|
| Ajax | Paris Saint Germain |
| AZ Alkmaar | AS Monaco |
| PSV Eindhoven | OGC Nice |
| Vitesse Arnhem | Olympique Lyon |
Since both of these countries are UEFA nations, the teams from these countries will be able to participate in the Champions League.
Frequency and duration of competitions
Both competitions have a similar schedule, where they start in late August and end in May.
This is similar to the schedule of other top European leagues.
Both the Eredivisie and Ligue 1 usually go on a 2-week winter break in December and the competition resumes in January.
Format of competition
Both the Eredivisie and Ligue 1 follow a double round-robin league format. Each team will play against the other teams in the league two times each.
For the Eredivisie, each team will face each of their 17 opponents twice, making a total of 34 matches. For Ligue 1, there are 20 teams in the league so each team will play 38 games to determine their final position.
Squad size
The squad rules for both Ligue 1 and the Eredivisie are unclear.
However, according to Football Manager, there are no squad restrictions for teams in the Eredivisie except there cannot be any U-18 non-EU players in the squad. For Ligue 1, teams cannot register more than 4 non-EU players at the same time.
While there are loose rules for the general squad, a maximum of 20 players are allowed in the matchday squad for Ligue 1 and 23 players for the Eredivisie. This must include at least two goalkeepers.
Qualification for competition
The Eredivisie is competed for by the 18 best teams in the country. To qualify for the competition, your team must earn a promotion from Eerste Divisie, the country’s second tier.
A place in the top two guarantees you promotion, replacing the bottom two teams in the top flight.
The 3rd placed team in the second division does not earn automatic qualification. Instead, they compete for promotion with the sides who finish 3rd – 8th. These six teams will compete against each other in a mini knockout tournament where 3 teams qualify.
The 16th placed team from the Eredivisie joins at this stage to make a 4-team semi-final and the winners of the final earn a place in the Eredivisie.
If a B team like Jong Ajax or Jong PSV are within the positions 3-8 of Eerste Divisie, they will not take place in the playoffs and the spot will go to the next best team.
This is because B teams can’t be promoted to the Eredivisie!
This is slightly complicated, and you can view how these playoffs work here.
For Ligue 1, it is a little more straightforward. The bottom two teams from Ligue 1 give way to the top two teams from Ligue 2. The 17th placed team in Ligue 1 then have a playoff game against the third-placed team in Ligue 2 to decide who plays in the top flight in the next season.
UEFA competitions placing
Your team will be eligible to qualify for UEFA competitions based on how well they perform in the league. The qualification is different for both competitions:
| Position | Eredivisie | Ligue 1 |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Champions League Group Stage | Champions League Group Stage |
| 2 | Champions League Second Qualifying Round | Champions League Group Stage |
| 3 | Europa League Playoff Round | Champions League Third Qualifying Round |
| 4 | Europa Conference League third round | Europa League Group Stage |
| 5 | European Competitions Play-offs | Europa Conference League Play-offs |
| 6 | European Competitions Play-offs | N/A |
| 7 | European Competitions Play-offs | N/A |
This means that Ligue 1 has more Champions League slots than the Eredivisie.
Rewards for winning competition
Here are the rewards your team will receive for winning either competition:
| Eredivisie | Ligue 1 | |
|---|---|---|
| Prize Money | Based on performance | Based on performance |
| Qualification for Champions League | Yes | Yes |
| Super Cup | Johan Cruyff Shield | Trophée des Champions |
The distribution of prize money in both competitions is based on league position.
In the 2020/21 season, the winner of the Eredivisie received €8.93M while the runners-up received €8M.
The prize money for winning Ligue 1 is a lot higher due to more lucrative sponsorships and TV rights. The winner of Ligue 1 in 2021 received 60M euros while the runners-up received €48M.
The winner of both leagues will qualify for the Champions League group stages. They will also qualify for their country’s version of the Supercup.
The super cup is usually the curtain raiser of the new football season. This is played between the winners of the league and the cup of that particular country.
Here is the French version of the Super Cup: Trophée des Champions. The Ligue 1 winners will play against the Coupe de France winners in this match.
You can find out more about how the Super Cup works by reading this guide on the FA Community Shield and the UEFA Super Cup.
Dominance of teams
In this section, we will be looking at the past winners of these two leagues since the start of the 11/12 season:
| Eredivisie | Ligue 1 |
|---|---|
| Ajax (5) | Paris Saint Germain (7) |
| PSV Eindhoven (3) | AS Monaco (1) |
| Feyenoord (1) | Lille (1) |
| – | Montpellier (1) |
Monaco’s 2017 Ligue 1 Championship victory over PSG is one of the biggest upsets in recent football history. Their squad had young talents like Mbappe, Bernardo Silva, and Thomas Lemar.
There have only been 9 winners of the Eredivisie in the last 10 years. This is because the 19/20 season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Champions League performances
In this section, we will see how the clubs from these leagues have performed in the Champions League. This is the best indicator of how well the league is as a whole since the Champions League is a competition between the best European clubs.
These are the semi-finalists over the last 5 years to come from either league:
| Eredivisie | Ligue 1 | |
|---|---|---|
| 2020/2021 | 0 | 1 (PSG) |
| 2019/2020 | 0 | 2 (PSG, Lyon) |
| 2018/2019 | 1 (Ajax) | 0 |
| 2017/2018 | 0 | 0 |
| 2016/2017 | 0 | 0 |
Ligue 1 takes the edge here by producing two more semifinalists (3) compared to the Eredivisie (1).
Verdict
Here is a summary of the comparison between the two leagues:
| Eredivisie | Ligue 1 | |
|---|---|---|
| Number of teams | 18 | 20 |
| Origin of teams | Netherlands | France |
| Frequency | Annually | Annually |
| Duration | 10 months | 10 months |
| Format | Double round-robin | Double round-robin |
| Number of Matches | 34 | 38 |
| Squad size | No non-EU under-18 players | Maximum 4 non-EU players |
| Qualification | Top 2 from Eerste Divisie 16th in Eredivisie has playoff with the best 6 in Eerste Divisie | Top 2 teams from Ligue 2 3rd in Ligue 2 has a play-off with 18th in Ligue 1 |
| Prize money | Based on position | Based on position |
| Champions League spots | 2 | 3 |
| Qualification for Champions League | Yes | Yes |
| Qualification for Supercup | Johan Cruyff Shield | Trophee des Champions |
| Dominance of teams | Mainly Ajax | Mainly PSG |
| Champions League Performances (semi-finals) | 1 semi-finalist in the last 5 years | 5 semi-finalists in the last 5 years |
Conclusion
Eredivisie and Ligue 1 are two popular leagues in the European footballing season.
Based on Champions League performances and popularity, Ligue 1 takes the slight edge.
Subscribe to Telegram and Twitter to get the latest updates!
Are you passionate about football and want to earn some side income?
