FC Nantes was founded on 21 April 1943 in Nantes, a city in the Pays de la Loire region of western France, through the merger of five local clubs during the Second World War. The club turned professional in 1945 and climbed steadily through the divisions before securing a place in France's top flight in 1963.
Nantes quickly established themselves as one of the dominant forces in French football. Under coach José Arribas, the club developed a distinctive collective style of play known as jeu à la nantaise — an attack-oriented, team-based approach that became the club's philosophical identity. This era produced league titles in 1965 and 1966, and laid the groundwork for further successes in 1973 and 1977. The tradition was continued by Jean-Claude Suaudeau and later Raynald Denoueix, with additional Ligue 1 titles arriving in 1980, 1983, 1995, and 2001 — bringing the total to eight. The club has also won the Coupe de France four times (1979, 1999, 2000, 2022) and reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League in the 1995–96 season.
A proud youth academy has been central to the club's story, producing internationally renowned players including Marcel Desailly, Didier Deschamps, Claude Makélélé, and Christian Karembeu. In the 2020s, Nantes claimed their most recent Coupe de France title in 2022, their first since 2000.
The club's main rivals are Girondins de Bordeaux — a contest known as the Atlantic Derby — and Stade Rennais, with whom they contest the Brittany Derby. Nantes play their home matches at the Stade de la Beaujoire, which opened in 1984.