The inaugural FIFA Intercontinental Cup final takes place today (Wednesday) - and Liverpool could qualify for next season's edition
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General view inside the stadium ahead of the 2024 FIFA Intercontinental Cup final between Real Madrid and Pachuca at Lusail Stadium on December 17, 2024 in Lusail, Qatar. (Photo by Yasser Bakhsh - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)
Were it not for the Coronavirus pandemic, Liverpool would have qualified for the inaugural edition of the revamped FIFA Club World Cup. Taking place in the United States next summer, the first version of the expanded tournament was originally scheduled to take place in China in 2021.
As European champions in 2019, the Reds would have qualified for the tournament as a result. Instead, Chelsea and Man City will be the Premier League’s two representatives next summer following their own Champions League wins in 2021 and 2023.
It is fair to say that FIFA’s latest tournament has hardly set pulses racing around European football, with there being a number of vocal critics. Former Reds manager Jurgen Klopp is just one who has hit out the ever-growing strain on an already congested calendar.
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But for those of us not glued to FIFA’s latest money-making scheme, it turns out the revamped FIFA Club World Cup was not the only new tournament introduced by the global governing body.
Rather than just replace the previous seven-team format, it is instead sitting alongside it in the calendar. The old tournament has been tweaked slightly and is now called the FIFA Intercontinental Cup.
Taking place in Qatar this year, FIFA has sung about how the competition gives ‘the champions of all six confederations the chance to compete on the global stage on an annual basis.’ Oh goody.
Yes, FIFA really do want to ‘determine the club champions of the world for each calendar year,’ on top of doing the exact same thing (on this occasion) six months later, albeit with 32 teams competing, in their new quadrennial tournament.
So yes, the Champions League holders will continue to see their Decembers interrupted every year by this pancontinental tournament - and it will sit alongside the revamped FIFA Club World Cup every four years. What fun.
As previously mentioned, the format of the now christened FIFA Intercontinental Cup has been tweaked. Now only six teams take part, with there being no host continent representative alongside their continental champions.
In the past, the reigning European champions would enter the tournament at the semi-final stage along with the Copa Libertadores champions, as Liverpool did in both 2005 and 2019 - going on to be crowned champions of the world for the first time in their history in the latter edition.
But now, the Champions League winners get a bye straight to the final, with that inaugural showdown taking place later today in Qatar (Wednesday 18 December).
Before we got to such a stage, the winners of the AFC Champions League and OFC Champions League entered at the first round, but that is now called the Africa-Asian-Pacific Cup play-off. Rolls off the tongue, doesn’t it?
The winner of that tie progressed to the African-Asian-Pacific Cup clash against the winners of the CAF Champions League. For the 2024 edition of the FIFA Intercontinental Cup, these matches took place in September and October respectively in Asia and Africa, with the home side decided by the clubs’ respective FIFA ranking.
Al-Ahly beat Al-Ain to be crowned cross-regional winners and progress in the tournament. 'African-Asian-Pacific Cup champions, you’ll never sing that!'
Moving on, the other second round tie is contested between the Copa Libertadores champions and CONCACAF Champions Cup champions, takes place at a neutral venue and has been christened the 'Derby of the Americas'. This year’s edition took place in Doha last week as Botafogo lost 3-0 to Pachuca.
With the ‘Derby of the Americas’ trophy in the bag, the Mexican outfit then faced the winners of the African-Asian-Pacific Cup in the 'Challenger Cup' in Doha last Saturday, with Pachuca defeating Al Ahly on penalties.
Yes, silverware was really up for grabs in each of these showdown ‘finals’.
And now, the 'Challenger Cup' champions Pachuca will face Champions League holders Real Madrid in Lusail to contest the inaugural FIFA Intercontinental Cup on Wednesday evening.
So, the La Liga giants find themselves still competing in this tournament in the middle of their club season, while they will also be in FIFA Club World Cup action next summer. Oh, a penny for Mr. Klopp’s thoughts!
With the FIFA Intercontinental Cup being a new annual tournament rather than just a filler ahead of next year’s FIFA Club World Cup, it is going to be a staple on the football calendar.
So, hypothetically, given that Liverpool currently top the Champions League league table, should Arne Slot’s men go on to be crowned European champions this season, they would automatically qualify for the final of the 2025 FIFA Intercontinental Cup as well as the 2029 edition of the FIFA Club World Cup. Can’t wait!
Just when you thought fixture congestion could not get any worse! Oh, and have you also seen that the European Super League is also back but under a new guise? Merry Christmas, everybody! I think I need a lie down...