The draw for the round of 16 of the Gard Lozère Cup took place on Thursday at the headquarters of the Gard-Lozère football district in Nîmes. While the favorites were avoided, some exciting matchups were randomly selected.
The Nîmes Olympique reserve team (R1) will host the defending champion Aimargues (R3), while OAC’s reserves (R2) will welcome Saint-Privat (R3). The draw was favorable for Vauvert (R1) who will play at Barjac (D1), Aigues-Mortes (R1) traveling to Vigan (D2), and Le Grau-du-Roi (R1) facing Bellegarde (D3). “We are very happy with the draw; it will be a great football celebration, especially since in the previous round we eliminated an R3 team,” said Aad Zerouala, the coach of Saint-Hilaire de la Jasse (D2) who will play against Anduze (R3).
Yannick Divol, the president of FC Val de Cèze (D1), expressed satisfaction with the draw as his team will face All Five Academy (D2), stating, “I prefer going to a D2 team than hosting an R1 for this round. We are facing a team that did not get here by chance. They are at our level, maybe slightly weaker. We hope to win and face a big team in the quarterfinals. The Gard Lozère Cup is one of our goals this season.”
The last match of the round of 16 will be between Vézénobres-Cruviers (D2) and Vergèze (R3). After the draw, the teams were randomly assigned their jersey colors. Nîmes Olympique will play in yellow, and FC Val de Cèze, usually in red, will play in green this time. Thirteen out of the 16 remaining teams were present on Thursday, and the three absent clubs will face an 80€ fine, which will go directly to the district’s funds.
The round of 16 matches (without extra time) of the Gard Lozère Cup will take place on March 8. The draw for the quarterfinals will be on March 12 at the Antonins stadium, live on Objectif Gard. As for the final, it will be on May 14 at the Bourgidou stadium in Aigues-Mortes. This will be the last time all district cup finals are played on the same day, as from 2027 they will be split over two days.
