19 December – Real Madrid beat Mexico’s Pachuca 3–0 to win the Intercontinental Cup and land manager Carlo Ancelotti a record fifteenth trophy at the club.
The European champions, who enjoyed a bye to the final, won at a canter with goals from Kylian Mbappe, Rodrigo and Vinicius Junior from the penalty spot, making Ancelotti the most decorated manager in the club’s history.
European teams have now won 17 of the 20 times the Club World Cup has been held – Real Madrid’s sixth title ahead of 2024 and an expanded 32-team edition in 2025.
He surpassed Miguel Munoz, who won 14 trophies at the helm of the Spanish giants. “Very happy, it’s a victory,” Ancelotti said in a flash interview. “We didn’t start well but finished with great attitude.”
In the previous round, Pachuca knocked out South American champions Botafogo and African champions Al Ahly, but they were no match for star-studded Real.
The Mexicans started brightly and offered some resistance in the second half through veteran striker Salomon Rondon. However, Madrid were lethal and they scored three times from four attempts on target.
Mbappe opened the scoring in the 37th minute after a neat attack from the left, and Rodrigo doubled Madrid’s advantage in the 53rd minute with a strike from the edge of the box. In the final minute of the match, Vinicius Jr sealed the victory with a third goal from the penalty spot after Osama Idrisi clipped Lucas Vazquez in the box.
It was Madrid’s fifth win in 2024 after winning the Champions League, La Liga, Spanish Super Cup and European Super Cup. The Spanish side enjoyed a perfect few days in Doha after Vinicius Junior was named the FIFA Player of the Year and Ancelotti the FIFA Manager of the Year.
The two teams will meet again in the summer when they appear in the expanded 32-team Club World Cup in the United States. Real Madrid and Pachuca are paired in Group H alongside Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal and Austria’s Red Bull Salzburg.
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