The 2024 FIFA Intercontinental Cup (officially known as the FIFA Intercontinental Cup Qatar 2024 presented by Aramco for sponsorship reasons) was the inaugural edition of the FIFA Intercontinental Cup, an annual club association football tournament organised by FIFA. The tournament comprised 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 was held from 22 September to 18 December 2024. The first two games were played in the stadium of a team involved in each match, and the final three (including the final) were played in Qatar as a neutral venue.
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.
Format
The details were approved by the FIFA Council on 17 December 2023, with the format formally confirmed on 20 September 2024.
- First round: The winners of the 2023–24 AFC Champions League hosted the winners of the 2024 OFC Champions League in the "FIFA African–Asian–Pacific Cup play-off".
- Second round: The winners of the 2023–24 CAF Champions League hosted 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 played 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 played each other in Doha, Qatar in the "FIFA Challenger Cup".
- Final: The winners of the play-off (FIFA Challenger Cup) played the winners of the 2023–24 UEFA Champions League in Lusail, Qatar.
Venues
| 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 |
Qualified teams
| 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
The match schedule was confirmed on 26 August 2024. If a match was tied after normal playing time, extra time was played. If still tied after extra time, a penalty shoot-out was held to determine the winners.
Bracket
| Derby of the Americas | Challenger Cup | Intercontinental Cup | ||||||||||||||||
| 11 December – Doha | 18 December – Lusail | |||||||||||||||||
| Botafogo | 0 | Real Madrid | 3 | |||||||||||||||
| 14 December – Doha | ||||||||||||||||||
| Pachuca | 3 | Pachuca | 0 | |||||||||||||||
| Pachuca (p) | 0 (6) | |||||||||||||||||
| African–Asian–Pacific Cup play-off | African–Asian–Pacific Cup | Al Ahly | 0 (5) | |||||||||||||||
| 29 October – Cairo | ||||||||||||||||||
| 22 September – Al Ain | Al Ahly | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
| Al Ain | 6 | Al Ain | 0 | |||||||||||||||
| Auckland City | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
First round
| Al Ain | 6–2 | Auckland City |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
Second round
Play-off
Final
| Real Madrid | 3–0 | Pachuca |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
Goalscorers
Awards
The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament. Vinícius Júnior of Real Madrid won the Golden Ball award, sponsored by Adidas, which was jointly awarded with the Aramco Player of the Tournament to recognise the best player of the Intercontinental Cup.
| Adidas Golden Ball Aramco Player of the Tournament |
Adidas Silver Ball | Adidas Bronze Ball |
|---|---|---|
| Vinícius Júnior (Real Madrid) |
Federico Valverde (Real Madrid) |
Elías Montiel (Pachuca) |
Trophies awarded
For the first time, multiple trophies were awarded to winning teams in the competition. In addition to an updated trophy given to the winners of the Intercontinental Cup final, trophies were 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). These trophies are similar to each other, but with different coloured globes.
- Intercontinental Cup: Real Madrid
- Challenger Cup: Pachuca
- Derby of the Americas: Pachuca
- African–Asian–Pacific Cup: Al Ahly
