Real Madrid wins the Intercontinental Cup by Defeating Pachuca

In Wednesday’s Intercontinental Cup final in Doha, Real Madrid easily defeated Mexican team Pachuca 3-0 thanks to goals from Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior.

Before Rodrygo extended Madrid’s lead early in the second half, Mbappe opened the score in the 37th minute. With a late penalty, Vinicius gave the Spanish and European champions a resounding victory.

After missing Saturday’s 3-3 draw with Rayo Vallecano because of a hamstring injury sustained during last week’s Champions League victory against Atalanta, France forward Mbappe made his comeback to the Madrid lineup in Doha.

After Vinicius Junior, who missed out on the Ballon d’Or but won the FIFA Best Men’s Player of the Year award the day before, played brilliantly, Mbappe came in from close range to break the tie.

Salomon Rondon, a former forward for West Brom and Newcastle, spearheaded Pachuca’s attack, but they never really seemed like they could pull off an upset, and Rodrygo’s exquisite looping goal from the edge of the box gave Madrid complete control.

Jude Bellingham was in an offside position and seemed to be blocking the goalkeeper’s view, but it was allowed to stand when the referee checked the pitchside monitor.

Lucas Vazquez was cut down in the Pachuca box, and six minutes from time, Vinicius added a third from the penalty spot after another VAR review.

Anxious’ Ancelotti makes more history

After defeating Atalanta in the UEFA Super Cup in August, Madrid has already won twice this season, which is a pleasant relief after what coach Carlo Ancelotti acknowledged had been a challenging stretch.

“It’s important for us to get to Christmas alive. If we think about the team after the defeat by Milan (in the Champions League on November 5), I think we’ve grown a lot and that gives us confidence for 2025.”

With his 15th trophy as Madrid’s coach, Ancelotti surpassed Miguel Munoz as the club’s all-time leader.

“This is a pleasant moment. For me, it’s an honour. Since Madrid is the greatest team in the world, everyone wants to be their coach, Ancelotti explained.

The six continental champions competed in the inaugural FIFA-sponsored Intercontinental Cup, which largely follows the previous format of the Club World Cup.

The latter will now take place every four years and will be increased to 32 teams in 2025. The European and South American champions participated in a previous iteration of the Intercontinental Cup, which ran from 1960 to 2004.

After winning that tournament three times, Madrid went on to win the Club World Cup five times in a row.

They are scheduled to play Pachuca once more at the Club World Cup in the United States next year, along with Red Bull Salzburg and an Al Hilal squad that includes Neymar.

On Sunday, Madrid’s last La Liga match of the year takes place at home against Sevilla. For the four-team Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia in early January, they will make their way back to the Middle East.