FC Metz was founded in 1932 by the merger of two amateur sports clubs and became a professional team soon after;
Its roots go back to the SpVgg Metz club, founded in 1905 when the city of Metz was part of the German Empire.
SpVgg played in the first Westkreis League in the 1913–14 season before the outbreak of the First World War stopped all play.
Some players from this club were part of the Cercle Athlétique Messin in 1919, which became FC Metz in 1932.
Messen was the leading club in the Honorable Division - Lorraine, winning league titles in 1920, 1921, 1922 and 1922.
1924, 1926, 1927, 1929 and 1931.
The club had played in the French second division north since 1933, winning the championship in 1935 and achieving promotion to Ligue 1 for the first time.
The team became a mid-level team in the first division until the outbreak of war again interrupted play.
FCM did not compete in top-level regional competitions in 1939–40.
During World War II, when the Moselle department was annexed by Germany, the club had to play under the Germanized name "F.W.
Metz in Gauliga Westmark.
During the three completed seasons of this league from 1941 to 1944, the club finished in second place each year.
Despite the city of Metz being recaptured by Allied forces in the autumn of 1944, the club did not take part in the French Football League in the 1944–45 season, but returned to Ligue 1 in the 1945–46 season, finishing 17th out of 18 clubs.
The expansion of the league to 20 clubs meant that the team was not relegated and remained at the top level until 1950, when a last place finish ended its membership in Ligue 1.
Metz was allowed to remain in Ligue 1 as a special privilege due to its disastrous situation in the year after the war: the stadium was damaged beyond repair.
The team had to start from scratch again.