What is FIFA Intercontinental Cup? Everything you need to know

Real Madrid will face Pachuca in the FIFA Intercontinental Cup 2024 final.

Real Madrid will play Mexican team Pachuca in the FIFA Intercontinental Cup final on Wednesday night in Qatar in an attempt to add another title to their collection.

Los Blancos earned a spot in the competition final by winning the UEFA Champions League the previous season, and they will have a great opportunity to add another trophy to their collection when they play Pachuca of Mexico.

What exactly is the FIFA Intercontinental Cup? Its existence & stuff

In 1960, UEFA and CONMEBOL partnered to launch the competition. Its objective was to play the Copa Libertadores champion against the European Cup (now known as the UEFA Champions League) winner in order to determine the best club in the world.

When Real Madrid and Peñarol faced off in the inaugural edition, it established a standard for a cross-continental match that drew interest from both sides of the Atlantic. Clubs like AC Milan, Boca Juniors, Ajax, and Flamengo took part in the subsequent years, increasing the event’s visibility.

Football’s worldwide governing body, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), hosts the FIFA Intercontinental Cup, an international men’s association football competition. In 2024, the most latest edition is going to happen. The competition is contested in a knockout format with the European team getting a bye to the final, and it involves the club champions of the six FIFA confederations.

The FIFA Club World Cup, which featured clubs from every confederation, formally replaced the Intercontinental Cup in 2005. Clubs from Asia, Africa, North and Central America, and Oceania could all compete for a global championship thanks to this integrated model, which was more in line with modern football’s global reach.

The Intercontinental Cup ceased in 2004, yet its influence endures. FIFA acknowledged the historical significance of the Intercontinental Cup in 2017 by recognizing all victors as official world champions.

The FIFA Council authorized the FIFA Club World Cup’s expansion on December 16, 2022, from seven to thirty-two teams starting in 2025. As a result, the final tournament held using the former format was in 2023. However, according to FIFA, confederations stated that in order to “stimulate competitiveness,” the winners of their premier club competitions should continue to face one another every year.

Thus, on March 14, 2023, the FIFA Council gave its approval to a plan for an annual club competition that would start in 2024 and be called the FIFA Intercontinental Cup (Yeah, it’s back).

It still holds the world title of the former FIFA Club World Cup and features the winners of the top club competitions of the six FIFA confederations: the AFC Champions League Elite, CAF Champions League, CONCACAF Champions Cup, Copa Libertadores, OFC Champions League, and UEFA Champions League.

September through December 2024 is when the tournament’s first edition is planned to occur. Clubs from every confederation compete in the competition’s intercontinental play-offs, with the exception of UEFA, whose team is given a bye to the final game.

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