The first edition of the FIFA Intercontinental Cup ends today, in the final between Real Madrid and Pachuca, played in Qatar, in the same stadiums built for the 2022 World Cup which are now almost always empty.
If you haven’t paid much attention to the club, we can’t blame you, as it’s quite confusing to figure out what’s what: The Intercontinental Cup is a brand new competition, but one that bears the name of the Intercontinental Cup played between the winners of UEFA and CONMBEBOL between the 1960 and 2004 (also known as the Toyota Cup), which was replaced by the FIFA Club World Cup… which has also been completely transformed in everything but name starting next summer.
The Intercontinental Cup sees the winner of last season’s UEFA Champions League, in this case Real Madrid, play against one of the winners of the other six confederations (Africa, Asia, Oceania, North and South America). This year’s finalist is Pachuca, who won the CONCACAF Champions Cup last season.
Meet Club de Fútbol Pachuca, Real Madrid’s rival in the Intercontinental Cup
Club de Fútbol Pachuca is one of the most important football clubs in Mexico. It is also the oldest, having been founded in 1892, although it has not always been in the first division. Its last and so far final promotion to the First Division was in 1998, and the “Tuzos”, as they are affectionately called, have won seven Liga MX titles since then.
Their last Liga MX title was in 2022, although it should be noted that the Mexican league is divided into two different titles (Apertura, played in the first half of the season, and Clausura, played in the second half. The year he last won a title, in the Apertura 2022, he came second in the Apertura 2022.
However, the current season has been very bad. They scored their fewest points ever, finishing 16th out of 18th, in the Apertura 2024, the tournament played from July 2024 until last week.
Last season, they finished 11th out of 18th in the 2023 Apertura and 7th in the 2024 Clausura, thus advancing to the playoffs but being eliminated by the eventual winner, América.
Despite a poor domestic season, CF Pachuca won the most important confederal competition, the CONCACAF Champions Cup, played in North America, Central America and the Caribbean (and dominated every year by a Mexican team).
In the 2024 European Cup, they defeated Liga MX champion Amética in the semifinals and then US Columbus Crew 3–0 in the final on June 1. This allowed Pachuca to lift the European Cup for the sixth time in a competition Pachuca are particularly good at: they have won it six times since 2002, the previous time in 2017.
Pachuca has also been in third place in two FIFA Club World Cups, in 2008 and 2017. They will face Real Madrid for the first time: in the Mexican team there are some Spanish players, including Gustavo Cabral of Celta de Vigo or Borja Bastón of Real Oviedo, as well as the Moroccan Ousamma Idrissi, previously with Sevilla, Ajax, Cadiz and Feyenoord.
However, Real Madrid and Pachuca will meet again in June, in the FIFA Club World Cup, as they are in the same group.
