Early career Thauvin was born in
Orléans, Loiret. He played for youth teams at Ingre,
Saint-Jean-de-la-Ruelle,
Orléans, and
Grenoble before rising through the ranks at the latter, and drawing the interest of larger clubs. He made his first team debut for Grenoble on 11 March 2011 in a 1–1
Ligue 2 away draw against
Vannes. Grenoble was relegated to the
CFA 2 after its liquidation in July 2011. On 28 October 2012, he scored his first goal for Bastia in a 3–1 victory over
Bordeaux. He helped Bastia to
Ligue 2 title triumph in 2012. Following his impressive displays that season, Thauvin was named the
Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year. On 4 January 2015, Thauvin was the only Marseille player to miss in the
penalty shootout as they were eliminated from the
Coupe de France last 64 by fourth-tier former club Grenoble. Thauvin made 81 appearances over two seasons, scoring 15 goals. He made his debut three days later, replacing compatriot
Gabriel Obertan, in the 69th minute of a goalless draw against
Manchester United at
Old Trafford, a game in which he had a chance to score a winner, but he was unable to reach a cross. He made his first start for the club against
Northampton Town in the
League Cup second round on 25 August, scoring a goal and making three assists in a 4–1 home victory. Thauvin was criticised by Newcastle's all-time top scorer
Alan Shearer for turning up to a game wearing a tuxedo. In February 2016, he told ''
L'Équipe'' that the criticism was unfair and affected his performances.
Return to Marseille On 31 January 2016, Newcastle announced Thauvin would return to Marseille on loan for the rest of the season. In the first game of his loan, on 2 February, he was sent off ten minutes after coming on as a substitute at
Montpellier for a foul on
Hilton. He scored the only goal on 20 April as they beat
FC Sochaux-Montbéliard 1–0 away in the semi-finals to reach the
final of the 2016 Coupe de France against
Le Classique rivals
Paris Saint-Germain, which they lost 4–2 with Thauvin scoring a goal. On 4 August 2016, Thauvin began his second loan spell at Marseille, signing a season-long loan deal; Newcastle inserted a clause in the contract which gave Marseille the option to make the deal permanent. In November 2016, it was reported that the loan spell would be made permanent in the summer of 2017, with Marseille agreeing to pay £9.8 million (€11m) for Thauvin's permanent transfer once he had played just three matches for the club during his second loan spell. in September 2017 Thauvin captained Marseille for the first time in the
2016–17 Coupe de France round of 64 away match against
Toulouse on 8 January 2017, which Marseille won 2–1. On 10 March, he scored two goals in the 3–0 Ligue 1 home win over
Angers, taking his tally to four goals in his last four Ligue 1 matches. He was the
UNFP Player of the Month for March, with three goals and two assists. On 2 February 2018, Thauvin scored another hat-trick in a 6–3 home win over
Metz. He won two more Player of the Month awards for November and February, In the season's Europa League, he contributed four goals in fourteen games for the team, who lost the
final to
Atlético Madrid in Lyon. In 2018–19, Thauvin was Ligue 1's fourth-highest scorer with 16 goals in 33 games, though Marseille finished fifth and missed out on European football; his tally included a hat-trick in a 3–1 win at
Amiens on 25 November. He was sent off two months later in a 2–1 home loss to
Lille. In September 2019, he was ruled out with ankle ligament injury, returning in March only for the season to be abandoned due to the
coronavirus pandemic. On 13 September 2020, Thauvin scored the only goal of an away win against Paris Saint-Germain, to grant Marseille their first win in
Le Classique since November 2011.
Tigres UANL On 7 May 2021, Thauvin signed with Mexican team,
Tigres UANL, joining the club after finishing out his contract with Marseille in June 2021 and reuniting with former Marseille teammate
André-Pierre Gignac. After participating in the
2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics he made his Tigres debut on 7 August 2021 against
Santos Laguna. Thauvin was sent off in the 35th minute. On 23 January 2023, Tigres announced that they had terminated Thauvin's contract. Despite being terminated from the team on the 4th week of the Clausura 2023 tournament, Florian was recognized as a
Liga MX champion.
Udinese On 31 January 2023, Thauvin joined
Serie A club
Udinese on a two-and-a-half-year deal.
Lens On 8 August 2025, Thauvin returned to France and signed a three-season contract with
Lens. ==International career==