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 a big international football (soccer) tournament for men's club teams. It's organized by FIFA, which is the main group that runs football around the world. The first tournament happened in 2024.
In this competition, the best club teams from six different football regions (called confederations) play against each other. It's a knockout tournament, meaning if you lose, you're out! The team from Europe gets a special pass (a bye) straight to the final match.
Real Madrid from Spain is the first-ever champion. They won by beating Pachuca from Mexico 3–0 in the first final in Doha in 2024.
Contents
How the Tournament Started
In December 2022, FIFA decided to make the FIFA Club World Cup much bigger. It would grow from seven teams to thirty-two teams starting in 2025. This meant the 2023 tournament was the last one with the old, smaller format.
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, in March 2023, FIFA agreed to create a new yearly club competition. This new tournament was later named the FIFA Intercontinental Cup.
There was an older tournament also called the Intercontinental Cup (from 1960 to 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 because it includes champions from all six FIFA regions. These include the winners of the AFC Champions League Elite, CAF Champions League, CONCACAF Champions Cup, Copa Libertadores, OFC Champions League, and UEFA Champions League. This new cup also keeps the world title that the old FIFA Club World Cup used to give out.
The very first tournament took place from September to December in 2024.
How the Tournament Works
This competition has several rounds of matches between clubs from different parts of the world. The team from Europe (UEFA) gets a special pass directly to the final match.
- First Round: A team from Oceania (OFC) plays against a team from Asia (AFC) or Africa (CAF). For the 2024 tournament, 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 ranking hosts this game.
- Second Round:
- The other team from Asia or Africa (the one that didn't play in the first round) plays against the winner of the first round. This match is called the "FIFA African–Asian–Pacific Cup". The higher-ranked team hosts this game.
- Separately, the team from South America (CONMEBOL) plays against the team from North/Central America (CONCACAF). This match is held at a neutral place and is called the "FIFA Derby of the Americas".
- Play-off: The two winners from the second round (the winner of the African–Asian–Pacific Cup and the winner of the Derby of the Americas) play each other. This match is held at a neutral place and is called the "FIFA Challenger Cup".
- Final: The winner of the Play-off (Challenger Cup) then plays against the European team (UEFA representative). This final match is held at a neutral place and is called the "FIFA Intercontinental Cup". This game decides who the champions are!
If a match is a tie after the regular playing time, teams play extra time. If it's still a tie after extra time, they have a penalty shoot-out to decide the winner.
Tournament Path
| Derby of the Americas | Challenger Cup | Intercontinental Cup | ||||||||||||||||
| 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
There are three trophies for the earlier rounds of the tournament. They all look similar to the FIFA Club World Cup trophy that was used from 2005 to 2023.
These trophies have a base with four pillars that go up. On top of the pillars is a globe shaped like a football. The trophies are almost exactly the same. The only differences are the name on the plaque at the bottom and the color accents. The African–Asian–Pacific Cup trophy has red accents, the Derby of the Americas trophy has blue, and the Challenger Cup trophy has white.
Tournament Results
| 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 |
Other Trophy Winners
Besides the main final, trophies are also given to the winning teams of the earlier rounds. These include the African–Asian–Pacific Cup (played by teams from Asia, Africa, and Oceania), the Derby of the Americas (played by teams from North/Central America and South America), and the Challenger Cup (played by the winners of the two matches mentioned before).
| Year | Challenger Cup | Derby of the Americas | African–Asian–Pacific Cup |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Pachuca |
Pachuca |
 Al Ahly |
See also
In Spanish: Copa Intercontinental de la FIFA para niños
