The six-team FIFA Intercontinental Cup tournament in Qatar has reached its final stages, with Egypt’s Ahly firmly in the mix.

Botafogo of Brazil will compete against Mexico’s Pachuca, the current CONCACAF champions, for the FIFA Derby of the Americas on 11 December. The winner will then face off against Ahly on 14 December in Doha for the FIFA Challengers Cup. The game will determine the club that will contend with Real Madrid, reigning UEFA Champions League champions, for the FIFA Intercontinental Cup on 18 December and for the right to be crowned world champions.

Botafogo, winners of Saturday night’s Copa Libertadores, became the last team to qualify for the tournament after beating Atletico Mineiro 3-1 in the final.

“Having lifted the FIFA African-Asian-Pacific Cup with a 3-0 win over Asian champions Al Ain in Cairo [in late October], Ahly are now a step closer to global glory,” wrote FIFA.com. Ahly are the current African Champions League winners.

FIFA and participating clubs already concluded their week-long visit to Qatar ahead of the tournament to familiarise themselves with stadiums, training sites and places of accommodation.

Roberto Grassi, FIFA’s head of youth tournaments, spoke about Qatar’s preparedness to host the tournament which is hosting continental club sides from around the world. “Qatar have world-class sporting facilities for football and plenty of other sports. They have also developed hosting capabilities and a pool of expertise and talented people that have worked across all the events, including the World Cup. This legacy still lives here today and will be on full display during the FIFA Intercontinental Cup,” Grassi said.

Stadium 974, which was a planned temporary venue, made from 974 recycled shipping containers and the number 974 itself being a reference to Qatar’s country calling code, will host two matches, before the much-anticipated final match at the iconic Lusail Stadium — marking the two-year anniversary of the historic FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 final.

Jassim Al-Obaidly, Stadium 974 venue manager for the Local Organising Committee (LOC) said: “Stadium 974, like all other Qatar 2022 venues, has been built to the highest technical standards, and was specifically designed to deliver a stunning fan experience during matches. Its design reflects the innovative vision that guided all of the facilities we have here in Qatar.”

The final match will take place at Lusail Stadium, an 89,000-seater revered by football fans around the world after it hosted the 2022 World Cup in which Argentina defeated France on penalties in what is regarded as the greatest World Cup final of all time.

Ali Al-Dosari, LOC Lusail Stadium venue manager, said: “Lusail Stadium is one of the world’s greatest stadiums. It is an arena that captured the world’s imagination in Qatar 2022, and then again during the Asian Cup 2023. The venue will surely be a wonderful host to the final match of this tournament, creating new lifetime memories for fans from around the world.”

The tournament, which broadly maintains the format of the previous annual versions of the FIFA Club World Cup before its expansion, has an exciting new format, with teams competing for annual confederation-based titles and trophies. The tournament comprises the six teams that won the previous edition of the continental championships in each FIFA confederation, playing each other in a single-elimination bracket. Starting on 22 September, the first two games were played in the stadium of a team involved in each match, and the final three (including the final) will be played in Qatar as a neutral venue.

While matches one and two were played in the countries of the respective home clubs, giving more than one team per edition the chance to play in a FIFA competition on home soil, Qatar was selected as the host of matches three, four and five based on its proven track record and extensive experience, know-how and world-class infrastructure.

Tickets went on sale on 21 November and witnessed significant demand from Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Jordan.

Qatar hosted the annual tournament twice — the 2019 and 2020 editions.

* A version of this article appears in print in the 5 December, 2024 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly