FIFA Intercontinental Cup facts for kids
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| Organising body | FIFA |
|---|---|
| Founded | 14 March 2023 |
| Region | International |
| Number of teams | 6 |
| Related competitions | FIFA Club World Cup |
| Current champions |  Real Madrid (1st title) |
| Most successful club(s) | Real Madrid (1 title) |
The FIFA Intercontinental Cup is an exciting annual football competition. It is organized by FIFA, which is the main group that runs football around the world. This tournament started in 2024.
It brings together the best club teams from six different football regions (called FIFA confederations). These teams play in a knockout style, meaning if you lose, you're out! The team from Europe gets a special pass (a bye) straight to the final match.
This competition is a bit like the older version of the FIFA Club World Cup. That tournament changed a lot in 2025. The Intercontinental Cup gives the winning team the title of "world champions". However, the bigger Club World Cup is seen as even more important. Real Madrid is the current champion. They won the first final in 2024 by beating Pachuca 3–0.
Contents
History of the Tournament
Why the Intercontinental Cup Started
On December 16, 2022, FIFA decided to make the FIFA Club World Cup much bigger. It grew from seven teams to thirty-two teams, starting in 2025. This meant the 2023 tournament was the last one with the old, smaller number of teams.
However, football groups around the world still wanted their top club champions to play each other every year. They felt this would keep the competition exciting. So, on March 14, 2023, FIFA approved a new yearly club competition. This was later named the FIFA Intercontinental Cup. FIFA sees this tournament as a direct continuation of the Club World Cup that ran from 2000 to 2023.
Comparing Old and New Tournaments
There was an older tournament also called the Intercontinental Cup (1960–2004). That one was organized by UEFA (Europe) and CONMEBOL (South America). It usually featured only the champions from those two regions.
The new FIFA Intercontinental Cup is different. It includes champions from all six main football regions. These are the AFC Champions League Elite (Asia), CAF Champions League (Africa), CONCACAF Champions Cup (North/Central America), Copa Libertadores (South America), OFC Champions League (Oceania), and UEFA Champions League (Europe). This new tournament continues the tradition of crowning a world champion club. The first tournament happened from September to December 2024, with the final games played in Qatar.
How the Tournament Works
This competition involves several matches between clubs from different regions. The only region that doesn't play in the early rounds is Europe. Their champion team gets a direct pass (a bye) to the final match.
- First Round: The team from Oceania plays against a team from either Asia or Africa. This changes each year. For example, in 2024, the Asian team played in this round. This match is called the "FIFA African–Asian–Pacific Cup play-off." The team with the higher FIFA national team ranking hosts this game.
- Second Round: The other team from Asia or Africa (the one that got a bye in the first round) plays against the winner of the first round. This game is called the "FIFA African–Asian–Pacific Cup." Again, the higher-ranked team hosts. At the same time, the teams from South America and North/Central America play each other. This match is called the "FIFA Derby of the Americas" and is played at a neutral place.
- Play-off: The winners from the two second-round matches play each other. This game is called the "FIFA Challenger Cup" and is also held at a neutral place.
- Final: The winner of the Play-off match then faces the European champion. This final game is called the "FIFA Intercontinental Cup" and is played at a neutral place. This match decides who the champions are!
If a game is tied after the regular playing time, they play extra time. If it's still tied after extra time, they have a penalty shoot-out to decide the winner.
Tournament Path
| Derby of the Americas | Challenger Cup | Intercontinental Cup Final | ||||||||||||||||
| Hosted at neutral venue | Hosted at neutral venue | |||||||||||||||||
| CONMEBOL representative | UEFA representative | |||||||||||||||||
| Hosted at neutral venue | ||||||||||||||||||
| CONCACAF representative | Challenger Cup winner | |||||||||||||||||
| Derby of the Americas winner | ||||||||||||||||||
| African–Asian–Pacific Cup play-off | African–Asian–Pacific Cup | African–Asian–Pacific Cup winner | ||||||||||||||||
| Hosted by higher-ranked team | ||||||||||||||||||
| Hosted by higher-ranked team | AFC or CAF representative | |||||||||||||||||
| AFC or CAF representative | Play-off winner | |||||||||||||||||
| OFC representative | ||||||||||||||||||
The Trophies
The main FIFA Intercontinental Cup trophy looks a lot like the FIFA Club World Cup trophy that was used from 2005 to 2023. It has a round base with six pillars reaching up. These pillars hold a globe that looks like a football.
The trophy is gold. On its base, there's a small plate with the tournament's name and the year. This means a new trophy is made for each year's winner. The base of this new trophy is taller than the old Club World Cup trophy.
There are also three smaller trophies for the earlier rounds of the tournament. These look like smaller versions of the main trophy. They are mostly silver and have four pillars holding a globe at the top. Their bases are similar in height to the 2005–2023 Club World Cup trophy. These three trophies are almost identical. The only differences are the name on the base and a special accent color. The African–Asian–Pacific Cup trophy has red accents, the Derby of the Americas trophy has blue, and the Challenger Cup trophy has white.
The team that wins the main competition also gets to wear the FIFA Champions Badge. This badge shows an image of the trophy. The winning team can display this badge on their jerseys until the final of the next tournament.
Tournament Results
Final Matches
| Year | Winners | Score | Runners-up | Venue | Location | Attendance | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country | Club | Club | Country | |||||
| 2024 | Spain |
Real Madrid | 3–0 | Pachuca |  Mexico |
Lusail Stadium | Lusail, Qatar | 67,249 |
| 2025 | – | |||||||
Winners of Secondary Trophies
Besides the main final, there are also trophies for the winners of the earlier rounds. These include the African–Asian–Pacific Cup, the Derby of the Americas, and the Challenger Cup.
| Year | Challenger Cup | Derby of the Americas | African–Asian–Pacific Cup |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Pachuca |
Pachuca |
 Al Ahly |
| 2025 |
Player Awards
| Year | Adidas Golden Ball Aramco Player of the Tournament |
Adidas Silver Ball | Adidas Bronze Ball |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 |  Vinícius Júnior (Real Madrid) |
 Federico Valverde (Real Madrid) |
Elías Montiel (Pachuca) |
| 2025 |
See also
In Spanish: Copa Intercontinental de la FIFA para niños
- List of world champion football clubs
- FIFA Women's Champions Cup
