Baku, December 18, AZERTAC

Spanish club Real Madrid will take on Mexico’s C.F. Pachuca in the FIFA Intercontinental Cup 2024 final at the Lusail Stadium in Doha, Qatar on Wednesday, Olympics.com reported.

The Real Madrid vs Pachuca football match is scheduled to start at 10:30 PM Indian Standard Time (IST) and can be seen on live streaming in India.

Real Madrid are the UEFA Champions League winners while Pachuca are the CONCACAF Champions Cup holders.

As per the tournament format, the UEFA Champions League winners directly qualify for the final while champions of the other five confederations play elimination rounds to decide the second finalist.

The FIFA Intercontinental Cup was first launched as the FIFA Club World Championship in 2000. After a pause between 2001 and 2004, the FIFA Intercontinental Cup returned in 2005 as the FIFA Club World Cup.

This year, the FIFA Intercontinental Cup restarted with a new format, with the winners from each of the six confederations given the chance to win annual confederation-based titles.

The FIFA Club World Cup, previously an annual event, is now a quadrennial event with 32 teams, starting from 2025.

C.F. Pachuca joined the tournament in the second round and defeated South American champions Botafogo of Brazil 3-0 to win the Derby of the Americas.

The third round, called the Challenger Cup, pitted Pachuca, the winners of the Derby of the Americas, against the African-Asian-Pacific Cup champions Al Ahly of Egypt. Pachuca goalkeeper Carlos Moreno starred for his team as Al Ahly missed three penalties in the shootout to lose 6-5.

Oussama Idrissi and Salomon Rondón have been the top performers for Pachuca in the tournament so far and will look to produce inspired performances in the club’s first major FIFA final.

Real Madrid, meanwhile, will be bolstered by the presence of Kylian Mbappe in the squad. The Frenchman was ruled out of Real Madrid’s La Liga match against Rayo Vallecano on Sunday due to injury. Vinicius Junior, Federico Valverde and Jude Bellingham are also expected to start.