The 2024 FIFA Intercontinental Cup (officially known as the FIFA Intercontinental Cup 2024 presented by Aramco for sponsorship reasons)[1] is the inaugural edition of the FIFA Intercontinental Cup, an annual club association football tournament organised by FIFA. The tournament comprises the six teams that won the previous edition of the continental championships in each FIFA confederation, playing each other in a single-elimination bracket. It will be held from 22 September to 18 December 2024, the first two games will be played in the stadium of a team involved in each match, and the final three (including the final) will be played in Qatar as a neutral venue.[2]
 | |
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host countries | Final stages: Qatar Early rounds: Egypt United Arab Emirates |
| Dates | 22 September – 18 December |
| Teams | 6 (from 6 confederations) |
| Venue(s) | 4 (in 4 host cities) |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 2 |
| Goals scored | 11 (5.5 per match) |
| Attendance | 65,428 (32,714 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Soufiane Rahimi (Al Ain) 2 goals |
2025 →
All statistics correct as of 29 October 2024. | |
The tournament broadly maintains the format of the previous annual versions of the FIFA Club World Cup, which was expanded and reorganised into a quadrennial tournament with more entrants, with the exception of changes to venues for the initial rounds.[2] The tournament name is derived from the former Intercontinental Cup, that was last played in 2004 between teams from UEFA and CONMEBOL.
Format
editThe details were approved by the FIFA Council on 17 December 2023, with the format formally confirmed on 20 September 2024.[3][4][5][6]
- First round: The winners of the 2023–24 AFC Champions League[a] will host the winners of the 2024 OFC Champions League in the "FIFA African–Asian–Pacific Cup play-off".[7]
- Second round: The winners of the 2023–24 CAF Champions League will host the winners of the first round for the title of the "FIFA African–Asian–Pacific Cup". In parallel, the winners of the 2024 Copa Libertadores and the winners of the 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup will play each other in Doha, Qatar, in a match that will be denominated the "FIFA Derby of the Americas".
- Play-off: The winners of the second round matches will play each other in Doha, Qatar in the "FIFA Challenger Cup".
- Final: The winners of the play-off (FIFA Challenger Cup) will play the winners of the 2023–24 UEFA Champions League in Lusail, Qatar.
Venues
edit United Arab Emirates
|
 Egypt
|
 Qatar
| |
|---|---|---|---|
| Al Ain | Cairo | Doha | Lusail (Doha Area) |
| Hazza bin Zayed Stadium | Cairo International Stadium | Stadium 974 | Lusail Stadium |
| Capacity: 25,053 | Capacity: 75,000 | Capacity: 44,089 | Capacity: 88,966 |
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|
|
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Qualified teams
edit
| Team | Confederation | Qualification | Qualified date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entering in the final | |||
 Real Madrid
|
UEFA | Winners of the 2023–24 UEFA Champions League | 1 June 2024 |
| Entering in the second round | |||
| Al Ahly
|
CAF | Winners of the 2023–24 CAF Champions League | 25 May 2024 |
 Pachuca
|
CONCACAF | Winners of the 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup | 1 June 2024 |
 Botafogo
|
CONMEBOL | Winners of the 2024 Copa Libertadores | 30 November 2024 |
| Entering in the first round | |||
| Al Ain
|
AFC | Winners of the 2023–24 AFC Champions League | 25 May 2024 |
 Auckland City
|
OFC | Winners of the 2024 OFC Champions League | 24 May 2024 |
Matches
editThe match schedule was confirmed on 26 August 2024.[8]
| Derby of the Americas | Challenger Cup | Intercontinental Cup | ||||||||||||||||
| 11 December – Doha | 18 December – Lusail | |||||||||||||||||
| Botafogo | Real Madrid | |||||||||||||||||
| 14 December – Doha | ||||||||||||||||||
| Pachuca |  Winner Match 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| Winner Match 3 | ||||||||||||||||||
| African–Asian–Pacific Cup play-off | African–Asian–Pacific Cup | Al Ahly | ||||||||||||||||
| 29 October – Cairo | ||||||||||||||||||
| 22 September – Al Ain | Al Ahly | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
| Al Ain | 6 | Al Ain | 0 | |||||||||||||||
| Auckland City | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
First round
edit| Al Ain | 6–2 | Auckland City |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
Second round
editPlay-off
editFinal
edit| Real Madrid | Match 5 | Winner Match 4 |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
Goalscorers
editTable correct as of 29 October 2024.
| Rank | Player | Team | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Soufiane Rahimi
|
Al Ain
|
2 |
| 2 |  Wessam Abou Ali
|
Al Ahly
|
1 |
| Emam Ashour
|
Al Ahly
| ||
| Myer Bevan
|
Auckland City
| ||
 Fábio Cardoso
|
Al Ain
| ||
 Sékou Gassama
|
Al Ain
| ||
 Kaku
|
Al Ain
| ||
 Jerson Lagos
|
Auckland City
| ||
| Mohamed Magdy
|
Al Ahly
| ||
 Matías Palacios
|
Al Ain
|
Trophies awarded
editIn addition to the Intercontinental Cup final, trophies will be awarded to the winning teams of the African–Asian–Pacific Cup (contested by the AFC, CAF and OFC representatives), Derby of the Americas (contested by the CONCACAF and CONMEBOL representatives) and Challenger Cup (contested by the winners of the two aforementioned matches).[5]
Notes
edit- ^ A draw determined whether the winners of the 2023–24 AFC Champions League or the 2023–24 CAF Champions League would play in the first round. Consequently, the other team entered in the second round.
References
edit- ^ "FIFA Intercontinental Cup 2024 stadiums revealed". FIFA. 12 November 2024. Retrieved 14 November 2024.
- ^ a b "FIFA Council confirms key details for FIFA Club World Cup 2025" (Press release). FIFA. 17 December 2023. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
- ^ Bonn, Kyle (17 December 2023). "Club World Cup 2025 in USA: Confirmed teams, format, schedule, dates for FIFA tournament with expanded field". The Sporting News. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
- ^ Nair, Rohith (17 December 2023). "Club World Cup set for June–July 2025, new Intercontinental Cup in 2024 –FIFA". Reuters. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
- ^ a b "FIFA Intercontinental Cup: Key information". FIFA. 20 September 2024. Retrieved 20 September 2024.
- ^ "Bureau of the Council update on FIFA Intercontinental Cup 2024". FIFA. 19 September 2024. Retrieved 21 September 2024.
- ^ @AucklandCity_FC (26 August 2024). "Intercontinental Cup: City to face AFC Champs" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ Al Ain FC [@alainfcae_en] (26 August 2024). "Official | The match schedule for the 2024 Intercontinental Cup has been confirmed" (Tweet). Retrieved 18 September 2024 – via Twitter.