The FIFA Intercontinental Cup is an international men's association football competition organised by FIFA, the sport's global governing body. The first edition took place in 2024. The competition features the club champions of the six confederations of FIFA, and is played as a knockout tournament with the European team receiving a bye to the final.[1]Real Madrid are the current champions, having defeated Pachuca 3–0 in the inaugural final in 2024.[2]
On 16 December 2022, the FIFA Council approved the expansion of the FIFA Club World Cup from seven to thirty-two teams beginning in 2025.[3] The 2023 tournament was therefore the last played under the previous format. However, FIFA reported that confederations expressed the need for the champions of their top club competitions to still play each other annually to "stimulate competitiveness".[4] Therefore, on 14 March 2023, the FIFA Council approved a concept for an annual club competition beginning in 2024, later named as the FIFA Intercontinental Cup. The similarly named Intercontinental Cup (1960–2004) was a club competition organised by UEFA and CONMEBOL which was usually contested by between the champions of the two respective confederations. However, the new FIFA organised competition, features the champions of the top club competitions of the six confederations, namely the AFC Champions League Elite, CAF Champions League, CONCACAF Champions Cup, Copa Libertadores, OFC Champions League and UEFA Champions League, and it retains the world title of the old FIFA Club World Cup.[5]
The competition features a series of intercontinental play-offs between clubs from all confederations except UEFA, whose club receives a bye to the final.[7][8][5]
First round: The OFC representative will face the AFC or CAF representative on an alternating basis (a draw for the 2024 edition determined the AFC representative will play in the first round of even-numbered years). The match, denominated as the "FIFA African–Asian–Pacific Cup play-off", is hosted by the higher-ranked club in the FIFA rankings.
Second round: The other AFC/CAF representative (which received a bye) will face the winners of the first round in a match denominated the "FIFA African–Asian–Pacific Cup", hosted by the higher-ranked club in the FIFA rankings. Elsewhere, the CONMEBOL and CONCACAF representatives will face at a neutral venue in a match denominated the "FIFA Derby of the Americas".
Play-off: The two second round winners will face at a neutral venue, in a match denominated the "FIFA Challenger Cup".
Final: The play-off winners will face the UEFA representative at a neutral venue, in a match denominated the "FIFA Intercontinental Cup", to determine the champions.
If a match is tied after normal playing time, extra time is played. If still tied after extra time, a penalty shoot-out is held to determine the winner.
Bracket
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
Trophies
The FIFA Intercontinental Cup trophy is similar in design to the FIFA Club World Cup trophy used from 2005 to 2023. It features a circular base with six pillars extending upward from it, supporting a globe shaped like a football. The trophy is gold in colour and has a plaque on the base with the name and year of the tournament.[9]
The three trophies for the earlier rounds of the tournament resemble smaller versions of the main FIFA Intercontinental Cup trophy. The trophies are primarily silver and feature four pillars supporting the globe at the top. The trophies are identical to each other aside from the plaque on the base which says the name of each cup, and the accent colour: red for the African–Asian–Pacific Cup, blue for the Derby of the Americas, and white for the Challenger Cup.[10][11]
In addition to the final, trophies are 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]
List of FIFA Intercontinental Cup secondary trophy winners
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Real Madrid (1st title)
2024 FIFA Intercontinental Cup 
