What’s the difference between the FIFA Intercontinental Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup?

The landscape of elite club soccer is changing, with the ‘new and improved’ 32-time FIFA Club World Cup to take place in the United States in June and July 2025.

The expansion of the tournament, which had only seven participants in its previous format, has caused no end of controversy, with the main criticism being the addition of more games to top teams’ schedules, which are already jam-packed. And no games are being cut elsewhere to compensate.

In 2024/25, Real Madrid are a good case in point.

2025 FIFA Club World Cup format

As Champions League holders, the LaLiga giants have qualified for next summer’s FIFA Club World Cup. The 32 teams have been split into eight groups of four, with the top two from each group progressing to the knockout stages, which start with the round of 16.

It’s what became the ‘traditional’ format of FIFA World Cup (for countries) and the UEFA Champions League, only with teams from all around the world involved (12 from Europe, six from South America, four from North and Central America, four from Asia, four from Africa, one from Oceania and one host, to be precise).

Is the FIFA Intercontinental Cup the ‘old’ FIFA Club World Cup?

There are 25 extra clubs in the ‘new’ FIFA Club World Cup, but that doesn’t mean the ‘old’ one is completely dead. It has, instead, been repackaged as the FIFA Intercontinental Cup, which is technically a brand new tournament.

The inaugural edition got underway with the African–Asian–Pacific Cup play-off on September 22 and the final will take place in Qatar on Wednesday, December 18.

The FIFA Intercontinental Cup is very similar to the ‘old’ FIFA Club World Cup, although there is one team fewer - six. The winners of the main continental club competitions from different confederations around the world (UEFA, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, AFC, OFC) are involved, with a host team being cut from the previous format.

Broadly-speaking, the teams from the ‘weakest’ confederations (Asia and Oceania) take part in the first playoff, which precedes a type of semifinal round, which consists of the African–Asian–Pacific Cup and the Derby of the Americans.

Only they’re not really semifinals. The two winners then progress to a playoff, which decides which team faces the representative from the ‘strongest’ confederation (Europe) in the actual final.

This year, Real Madrid will only play one match in the entire tournament, the final. Pachuca, their Mexican opponents, will play their third game in the competition on Wednesday, the minimum number for any non-European team if they are to win the FIFA Intercontinental Cup.

To confuse matters further, a different ‘Intercontinental Cup previously existed between 1960 and 2004, in which the winner of the Champions League faced the Copa Libertadores champion.

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