Paris Saint-Germain Football Club was founded on 12 August 1970 through the merger of two amateur clubs — Paris FC and Stade Saint-Germain — with the explicit ambition of giving Paris a top-flight football club after a long absence. The club's distinctive red, blue and white colours represent both Paris (the red and blue) and Saint-Germain-en-Laye (the white). PSG split with Paris FC in 1972 and won promotion to Ligue 1 by 1974. The Parc des Princes has been the club's home since 1974.
The pre-2011 era was modest — two Ligue 1 titles in 1986 and 1994, a 1995-96 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup triumph (the only French club to win the trophy), but mostly inconsistent finishes. The transformation began with Qatar Sports Investments' takeover in May 2011, marking the start of a state-backed rebuild that turned PSG into French football's dominant force. Zlatan Ibrahimović, Thiago Silva, Edinson Cavani and Marco Verratti formed the spine of the early QSI sides, with four straight Ligue 1 titles from 2012-13 to 2015-16.
The Neymar-Mbappé era (2017-2024) brought enormous expectation but Champions League agony — semi-final and final defeats culminating in the 2019-20 final loss to Bayern Munich. The breakthrough finally came in 2024-25 under Luis Enrique. With Mbappé departed but Ousmane Dembélé, Achraf Hakimi, Joao Neves and Désiré Doué leading a younger, more cohesive squad, PSG defeated Inter Milan 5-0 in the Munich final to win their first ever UEFA Champions League. Combined with the 2024-25 Ligue 1 and Coupe de France, this completed a continental Treble. Twelve Ligue 1 titles place PSG joint-leading in French football, with 15 Coupes de France making them France's most decorated cup club. Le Classique against Olympique de Marseille remains the country's biggest fixture, even as PSG's domestic dominance has reshaped Ligue 1.