On Wednesday, Real Madrid will face Mexican club Pachuca in the final of the watered-down Intercontinental Cup. Kylian Mbappe is expected to be available to play for the Spanish powerhouse after suffering a left thigh injury.
The tournament – played in a new formula after FIFA extended the Club World Cup to 2025 – brings together the champions of all six football confederations. It takes place every year, while the larger Club World Championship will be held every four years.
Madrid went straight to the final without having to play any games as European champions, while Pachuca advanced by defeating South American champions Botafogo and Al Ahly of Egypt in the preliminary rounds of the tournament held in Qatar.
Mbappé is training with the rest of the Madrid squad again after missing the Spanish league match against Rayo Vallecano, which was a 3-3 draw on Saturday.
The France star, who has still not lived up to expectations in his first season in Madrid, was injured and was replaced after scoring last week’s goal in Madrid’s 3-2 win over Atalanta in the Champions League.
Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti was optimistic about Mbappé’s chances of playing in Wednesday’s final, although he was still missing several other key players in a season marred by injuries, including Dani Carvajal, Eder Militao, David Alaba and Ferland Mendy.
Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois is likely to play after recently returning from a muscle injury that sidelined him for several games.
Ancelotti supplemented the squad for the final match against Pachuca with several players from the club’s youth squads.
Madrid won the Intercontinental Cup three times (1960, 1998 and 2002) before FIFA began organizing the Club World Cup every year. She won the Club World Cup five times (2014, 2016, 2017-18 and 2022).
Madrid is currently third in the Spanish league table.
Pachuca finished third in the 2017 Club World Championship.
