5 May 1918 - The World Cup's Older Frère

On 5 May 1918, Olympique de Pantin won the inaugural Coupe de France, defeating F.C. Lyon by the score of 3-0.

Founded in a Paris suburb in 1895, Olympique de Pantin was one of 48 clubs participating in the 1917-18 tournament. On their way to the final, they beat Légion Saint-Michel (4-1), Lyon Olympique Universitaire (5-1), Club Français (3-2 aet), and C.A. Société Générale (2-1).

The final was played at Légion Saint-Michel's field in Paris before a crowd of 2,000 spectators. A. Fievet scored the first two goals for Pantin before Louis Darques added a third.

Olympique de Pantin never won another trophy, though they were runners-up in the Coupe de France in 1919 and 1921. In 1926, then known as Olympique de Paris, they merged with rival Parisian club Red Star F.C.

The competition, originally known as the Coupe Charles-Simon, was created on 15 January 1917 by the French football governing body at the time, the Comité Français Inter-fédéral. It was proposed by Henri Delaunay and supported, among others, by Jules Rimet, who went on the become the president of the French Football Federation (1919-1945) and FIFA (1921-1954), and who was the driving force behind the creation of the FIFA World Cup.