In addition to the major Club World Cup, there is another new FIFA competition for clubs: the FIFA Intercontinental Cup. The tournament has six teams, five games and four titles are awarded. The competition lasts three months – and Paris Saint-Germain and Flamengo play the actual final on Wednesday.
The Intercontinental Cup will be held for the second time in 2025. The basic idea: One team from each of the six confederations Africa (CAF), Asia (AFC), North America (CONCACAF), South America (CONMEBOL), Oceania (OFC) and Europe (UEFA) plays. These include:
- Pyramids FC (Egypt)
- al-Ahli (Saudi Arabia)
- CD Cruz Azul (Mexico)
- Flamengo Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)
- Auckland City (New Zealand)
- Paris Saint Germain (France)
There are four titles up for grabs during the tournament:
- the FIFA Africa-Asia-Pacific Cup
- the FIFA America derby
- the FIFA Challenger Cup
- and that FIFA Intercontinental Cup
The first of the five games took place on September 14th, with the last scheduled for Wednesday almost three months later. At the Ahmed bin Ali Stadium in the Qatari city of Ar-Rayyan, Paris Saint-Germain and Flamengo Rio de Janeiro will meet in the final of the Intercontinental Cup, which Real Madrid won in its first edition in 2024.
The squad that Luis Enrique called up shows that PSG takes the game seriously: from Ousmane Dembele to Vitinha to Joano Neves, all the stars are there. They travel to Qatar for the game after the away win at FC Metz at the weekend. On Saturday, PSG has to play in the French Cup against fifth division club Vendée Fontenay Foot in western France.
Why this tournament?
The new Club World Cup, which is hotly debated on many levels, only takes place every four years. FIFA President Gianni Infantino promised clubs and countries “more meaningful games on the world stage”. The tournament is now supposed to deliver this every year. “The FIFA Intercontinental Cup offers the perfect opportunity to develop and strengthen global sporting rivalries in the run-up to the new Club World Cup”said FIFA. The competition was a wish of the six continental associations.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino with the FIFA Challenger Cup
As in the previous year, three of the five games will take place in Qatar. The country is “was unanimously chosen to host due to its proven track record, extensive experience, expertise and world-class infrastructure”said FIFA in 2024. In 2025, the final round of the tournament also went to Qatar, where FIFA will host the Arab Cup and the U17 World Cups in 2025, 2026, 2027, 2028 and 2029.
Fifa Africa-Asia-Pacific Cup: The first title went to Pyramids FC
The first game of the tournament was a playoff game on September 14th. Pyramids FC had a home game in Cairo against Auckland City and won 3-0 in front of a poor crowd.
Pyramimds FC players celebrate a goal in Cairo against Auckland City.
This put Pyramids FC in the final for the first title of the tournament: in an away game in Jeddah on September 23rd, the team from Egypt won 3-1 at al-Ahli from Saudi Arabia and won the Africa-Asia-Pacific Cup, in which teams from those three regions now took part.
FIFA American derby: Flamengo beats Mexican club
The second title went to Flamengo Rio de Janeiro. In the FIFA Americas derby – which took place in Qatar – the team beat Mexico’s Cruz Azul 2-1 on December 10th. Here too there was a trophy and award ceremony, Flamengo received the trophy for the American derby victory and qualification for the following round.
Flamengo’s players with the FIFA America Derby Winners’ Cup
FIFA Challenger Cup: Title number two for Flamengo
The first two winners of the competition then played in the FIFA Challenger Cup in Qatar on December 13th. Flamengo won here too, this time 2-0. In addition to the next trophy and the next award ceremony, the club from Brazil also qualified for the final and had the chance to win title number three.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino presents Flamengo’s Bruno Henrique with the FIFA Challenger Cup
To achieve this, Flamengo now has to solve a difficult task: Paris Saint Germain, winners of the UEFA Champions League and the FIFA Club World Cup, are their opponents.
New structure led to disputes with leagues and Players unions
The new tournament structure with the major Club World Cup is causing dissatisfaction among players’ unions and national leagues. The strain on players at the top level continues to increase after the Champions League was expanded to include the Club World Cup, and some players openly threatened to go on strike. The national leagues are constantly facing new competition from FIFA in the fight for TV money.
Players’ unions and leagues recently took legal action against FIFA because of what they saw as a lack of say in the calendar’s design, which in turn rejected the allegations. Many clubs, on the other hand, see a new source of income and welcome competition.