Intercontinental Cup in Qatar
Goalkeeper saves four penalties: Paris wins next title
12/17/2025 – 9:44 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
Paris Saint-Germain crowned another successful year against Flamengo. One player in particular stands out.
Paris Saint-Germain won the Intercontinental Cup in Al-Rayyan (Qatar) on Wednesday evening. The French beat Brazilian club CR Flamengo 2-1 on penalties. The Russian Matwei Safonov, who replaced the injured Lucas Chevalier in goal, saved four penalties and was therefore the man of the evening.
With the success, PSG secured their sixth title this year. The team had already won the Champions League, the Uefa Super Cup in 2025 and the championship, the cup and the Supercup in France. Only at the Club World Cup in the summer did Paris fail in the final against Chelsea FC (0-3).
In Al-Rayyan, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia gave PSG the lead in the 38th minute. Flamengo equalized in the 62nd minute with a penalty kick converted by Jorginho. After 90 minutes the score was 1:1. No further goals were scored in extra time. Therefore the penalty shootout had to bring about the decision.
Since last year, only the champions of the six confederations have taken part in the Intercontinental Cup. As winners of the European Champions League, Paris was seeded for the final. Flamengo, winners of the Copa Libertadores, reached the final with victories over Mexican club Cruz Azul (2-1) and African representatives Pyramids FC from Cairo (2-0). The competition was held for the first time last year, with Real Madrid emerging as the winner.
Seven teams took part in the Club World Cup until 2023, with the last winner under the old format being Manchester City. However, this year’s World Cup had been increased to 32 teams.