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 World Cup 2022 that are now almost always empty.
If you haven't been paying been much attention to the club, we can't blame you, as it is quite confusing understanding what is what: the Intercontinental Cup is a brand new competition, but bearing the name of the Intercontinental Cup played between UEFA and CONMBEBOL winners between 1960 and 2004 (also known as Toyota Cup), which was replaced by the FIFA Club World Cup... which has also been completely transformed in all but name starting next summer.
The Intercontinental Cup sees the UEFA Champions League winner of the last season, in this case Real Madrid, play against one of the winners of the other six confederations (Africa, Asia, Oceania, North and South America). The finalist this year is Pachuca, who won the CONCACAF Champions Cup last season.
Meet Club de Fútbol Pachuca, Real Madrid rival in the Intercontinental Cup
Club de Fútbol Pachuca is one of the most important football clubs in Mexico. It is also the oldest one, being gounded in 1892, although it hasn't always been on first division. It's last and so far definitive promotion to First Division was in 1998, and the "Tuzos", as they are affectionatively called, have won seven Liga MX titles since then.
Their last Liga MX title was in 2022, although it is to be noted that 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 the last won a title, in the Apertura 2022, got second in the Apertura 2022.
However, the current season has been very bad. They got the fewest points ever, ending 16th out of 18th, in the Apertura 2024, the tournament played since July 2024 until last week.
Last season, they ended 11th out of 18th in the Apertura 2023, and 7th in the Clausura 2024, thus advancing to the playoffs but being eliminated by the eventual winner, América.
Despite the poor domestic season, CF Pachuca did won the most important confederational competition, the CONCACAF Champions Cup, played in Nort America, Central America and the Caribbean (and dominated almosy every year by a Mexican team).
In the 2024 Champions Cup, they defeated the Liga MX champion, Amética, in the semifinals, and later the US Columbus Crew 3-0 in the final on June 1. That allowed Pachuca to lift the Champions Cup for the sixth time in a competition that Pachuca is particularly good at: they've 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 from Celta de Vigo or Borja Bastón from Real Oviedo, as well as Moroccan Ousamma Idrissi, previously on Sevilla, Ajax, Cádiz 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.