FIFA Intercontinental Cup

Organising body	FIFA
Founded	14 March 2023; 20 months ago (2023-03-14)
Region	International
Number of teams	6
Related competitions	FIFA Club World Cup
Website	fifa.com/intercontinentalcup
2024 FIFA Intercontinental Cup

The FIFA Intercontinental Cup is an international men's association football competition organised by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The first edition is scheduled to take 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]

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.^[2] 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".^[3] 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. It will feature the champions of the top club competitions of the six confederations of FIFA, namely the AFC Champions League Elite, CAF Champions League, CONCACAF Champions Cup, Copa Libertadores, OFC Champions League and UEFA Champions League.

The inaugural edition of the tournament is scheduled to take place from September to December 2024.^[4]

The competition features a series of intercontinental play-offs between clubs from all confederations except UEFA, whose club receives a bye to the final.^[5][6][7]

• 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.

The three trophies for the earlier rounds of the tournament all share a consistent design and look similar to the FIFA Club World Cup trophy used from 2005 to 2023. The trophies feature a base with four pillars extending upward, supporting a globe shaped like a soccer ball. 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 (Derby of the Americas: blue, African–Asian–Pacific Cup: red, Challenger Cup: silver).^[8][9]

In addition to the 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).^[7]

List of FIFA Intercontinental Cup regional trophy winners

Year	Challenger Cup	Derby of the Americas	African–Asian–Pacific Cup
2024		Pachuca	Al Ahly

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