Intercontinental Cup
The Intercontinental Cup, by extension Intercontinental Cup of Champions Clubs and officially since 1980 European-South American Cup, was an international competition for clubs soccer game that annually faced the champion of the UEFA Champions League with the winner of the Conmebol Copa Libertadores.
According to the FIFA statute and its regulations, it was an official competition, of an intercontinental nature, organized by UEFA and Conmebol, who have always included it in their official honors, as well as being, indirectly, governed by the world federation, because he had the authorization issued by it.
FIFA includes it in the list of official world titles, unlike other world-class competitions, such as the Rio Cup, which, however, was not recognized as a world title assignee competition nor as an official competition for FIFA (it does not have the indirect support that the confederal and interconfederal competitions have) requirements that the Intercontinental Cup has.
Starting in 1980, the logistics organization passed to the Japan Football Association, always under the official UEFA-Conmebol command.
From 1960 to 1979 the tournament was developed in the round-trip format in the countries of origin of the respective confederation representatives, while from 1980 to 2004 it was played, after undergoing a restructuring after which it was renamed as Copa European-South American, in the months of November or December in the Japanese cities of Tokyo (from 1980 to 2001) and Yokohama (from 2002 to 2004). Since 1980, a second trophy (which flanked the Intercontinental Cup) was awarded to the champions, known as the Toyota Cup, alluding to the sponsor of the trophy, and for which it is sometimes referred to. He was referring to the competition.
As of 2005, it ceased to be played because it was merged with the FIFA Club World Championship and was replaced with the FIFA Club World Cup, played in Japan, a tournament in which the winning teams of the main international tournaments organized by each of the 6 continental confederations affiliated with FIFA: UEFA, Conmebol, Concacaf, AFC, CAF and OFC and, from the 2007 edition, the league-winning team of the country organizing the tournament contest.
The clubs that have won the title the most times are, in chronological order, Peñarol, Nacional, Milan, Real Madrid and Boca Juniors, all with 3 titles; while Argentine clubs have the highest number of titles by national association (9). Likewise, the clubs affiliated with Conmebol have the highest number of titles in the tournament (22).
On October 27, 2017, it was made official with the recognition of the International Federation of Associated Football as the direct predecessor of the Club World Cup, for which its winners also received the official title of World Club Champions of FIFA.
Since its creation in 1960, it was considered the international competition for clubs with the highest hierarchy in the world, due to the fact that it confronted the representative teams of the two confederations with the greatest sporting development, both at club and national team level, in addition to the only ones that At the time of its inauguration, they organized tournaments at the federative level; Therefore, the team that managed to conquer it was called by the media, the international sports community and FIFA itself (with texts produced by the News Center and not cataloged on the FIFA website as official documents of the entity)., with the de facto honorary title of "world champion". This decoration de facto (without full recognition) ceased to have effect as of October 27, 2017, when through an Official Statement, issued by its only competent body, the Council (former Executive Committee), the International Federation of Associated Football FIFA officially recognized (de iure ) to the winners of this contest as legitimate Club World Champions. This decision was based on a formal request for recognition by the South American Football Confederation towards FIFA, of the titles achieved by the Intercontinental champions, under the rank of "official World Champions". In this way, recognition as such was achieved for 19 European-South American soccer clubs, including from this list those that later won the Club World Cup, who in return "swelled" his list of world titles under this recognition.
History
The forerunner of the Intercontinental Cup was Henri Delaunay, with the idea of determining who was the best team in the world. The idea was to face the European champion and the South American champion since they were the two continents with the highest quality football. Although this idea had already been tried to be handled before in the famous Club World Cup held in the 1950s in Caracas (Venezuela), which meant the continuity of the Rio International Cup. Another international tournament was the Mohamed V Trophy (1962-1989), organized by the Moroccan Federation, with the approval of the African Confederation.
Europe already had a way to designate its champion, since the European Champions Cup was taking place, but South America did not have a comparable system. That is why Conmebol created a similar competition, and called it the Copa de Campeones de América.
The first match was in 1960, on the one hand the European champion Real Madrid from Spain and on the other the first champion of the Copa Libertadores, Peñarol from Uruguay. There were two games, the first played in Montevideo where they tied 0-0 and the second in Madrid where the local team lifted the cup after winning 5-1 and becoming the first intercontinental champion.
Some newspapers in the 1960s published some controversial articles (based on statements by René Courte, FIFA Under-Secretary General and President Stanley Rous) about the official status of the tournament; probably due to the requests (never accepted) from other confederations to participate and the repeated excesses in the South American stadiums, with the consequent desire for revenge from the Europeans, all deleterious for any reputation. It has been written that FIFA refused to authorize the competition in the 1960s, but not really as a competition in its own right, but as an official competition for the world title. In fact, the cup was always official at the intercontinental level, as evidenced by the fact that the two confederations have always recognized all editions as official and all official competitions must be approved by FIFA, which always recognizes and commands the affiliated confederations.
In the 1970s, concern for the integrity of the players, as well as the lack of financial incentives and the little relevance of the trophy (consequences of the hostile climate of the South American stadiums) made many European champions refuse to participate, which caused the suspension of the 1975 and 1978 editions, as well as the replacement of the champion by the European runner-up in the 1971, 1973, 1974, 1977 and 1979 editions. Also in 1993 the European runner-up participated, although on this occasion by sanction of the champion.
The Toyota company assumed the role of promoter in the 1980 edition, and continued to be so until the last edition of the competition. From then on, no club refused to play in the Intercontinental Cup, and the competition began to be played on Japanese soil and a single match was played instead of two, in addition to awarding a second trophy corresponding to the sponsor (the Toyota Cup).
This trophy was played for the last time in 2004. As of 2005 the club considered world champion is the winner of the FIFA Club World Cup.
After the discontinuation of the tournament, there have been discussions with the idea of restoring the cup, either between the winners of the Recopa Sudamericana against the champion of the European Super Cup, or between the champion of the Copa Sudamericana against the champion of the UEFA Europa League, the latter began to be played under the name of the Euro-American Super Cup, a friendly tournament played in 2015 and 2016.
In May 2017 various information emerged about a possible return to the competition for the 2018-19 season. It could be carried out with the current Club World Cup to expand it to a more global tournament to the detriment of the Confederations Cup for national teams. Details that confirmed the first speculations in the winter of 2016:
“The current Club World Cup has a complicated formula, has a difficult period, not very exciting. Seven teams will be measured in this year's edition from 8 to 18 December in Japan, but, in summer, from 10 to 30 June why not in 2019?, with the 32 best clubs in the world, is it worth more exhausting trips involving many flights and different time zones or a tournament? It all depends on the health of players who should be able to rest.
Today football is not just Europe and South America. The world has changed. We are looking for a more interesting World Cup for clubs, with more quality. This will attract not only sponsors and televisions but also fans from around the world. ”Gianni Infantino, president of FIFA.
FIFA recognition to the winners
After the establishment of the FIFA Club World Championship, held since 2000 to replace the Intercontinental Cup, a controversy arose around the designation or recognition of the winners. The same was based on the issue of the validity or not of the Club World Champion title awarded up to that date for the champions of this Intercontinental Cup. The doubt took even greater force, given the existence of other similar tournaments such as one played and organized by the African Football Confederation (CAF) and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) between 1986 and 1998. Likewise, the situation was aggravated by the The fact that neither of the two competitions were organized by FIFA, which motivated its president Gianni Infantino to issue a statement on January 28, 2017 in which he did not recognize the official status as a world tournament of the European-South American Intercontinental Cup. Months later, the organization changed its mind after studying a request submitted by Conmebol that ended up recognizing the winners of the Intercontinental Cup as world champions.
The rationale was based on the fact that FIFA considered the Intercontinental Cup as the first and up to that moment, the only recognized antecedent of a worldwide team tournament to the current FIFA Club World Cup due to the fact that It confronted the representative teams of the two confederations with the greatest sporting development, both at the club and national team levels. Under the legal-federal aspect, FIFA has the exclusive and absolute power to organize and validate official competitions among its affiliates. Finally, in Calcutta on October 27, 2017, the FIFA Council, thanks to the extensive powers that it granted the statute, accepted such request and with an official note recognized the 25 winning clubs of the competition with the official title of world champions.
The ruling equates the title of the Intercontinental Cup to the title (not the competition) of the current FIFA Club World Cup, including it in the official list of world titles issued by the world federation, which, therefore, promoted the legal unification of this competition with the current one, acknowledging that it was organized by UEFA and Conmebol but allowing it to assign the world title itself. Logically, FIFA, regarding the history of the Intercontinental Cup, illustrated in the official document, did not promote statistical unification by not absorbing the trophy, changing only the title conferred, also because It was not necessary; In fact, for the FIFA statute, the Intercontinental Cup was already an official competition, unlike, for example, the King Fahd Cup, which became the FIFA Confederations Cup. The entity maximum differentiated the various world title transfer tournaments (not the same in terms of name, history, regulations, organization and material trophy) in the FIFA Club World Cup (2000-current), Intercontinental Cup (1960-1979) and Toyota Cup (1980-2004) all official) differentiating the competitions, (Roberto Gomes Pedrosa Tournament, Taça Brasil, Serie A) also here organized by different federations (FPF with FFD in 1967, CBD since 1959 to 1978, CBF since 1979) in the winners list issued by the main federation, the CBF.Also in Italy has been another notable case. The FIGC recognizes as official the national championship title organized by the ICC that was won by Pro Vercelli.
Competition system
Between 1960 and 1979, matches were played back and forth. Between 1960 and 1968, the team that had scored the most points between the two games was crowned champion, which is why in some cases a third game was needed. From 1969 to 1979, the team that scored the most points between the two games was proclaimed champion, but if both had won a game, the team with the most goals in favor was proclaimed champion; If the two games had ended tied, extra time would be played and if equality persisted, the definition would be resorted to on penalties.
Starting in 1980, the final was played in a single match, with the match being played in Japan. Until 2001 the matches were held at the National Stadium in Tokyo and from 2002 it was held at the Yokohama International Stadium, site of the 2002 Soccer World Cup final.
All the games were played in a single game of 90 minutes (divided into two periods of 45 minutes plus added time) and 15 minutes of rest. In the event that the match ended tied, 30 minutes of extra time had to be played (divided into two periods of 15 minutes plus the addition) in which there was no rest. If equality still persisted, the teams had to execute 5 penalties each, alternately. If after those 5 penalties the winner was not defined, they had to go to "sudden death", where the teams had to continue throwing a single penalty. The winner was the one who converted in the same turn in which his opponent missed.
History
This table shows the results of the finals of each edition of the Intercontinental Cup.
| Season | Champion | Outcome | Subfield | Final Headquarters |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 | .svg){kind=small} Real Madrid C. F. | 0–0, 5–1 |  Peñarol
| Centenary, Montevideo-Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid |
| 1961 | Peñarol | 0–1, 5–0, 2–1 |  S. L. Benfica
| da Luz, Lisbon-Centenario, Montevideo |
| 1962 | .svg){kind=small} Santos | 3–2, 5–2 | S. L. Benfica
| Maracaná, Rio de Janeiro-da Luz, Lisbon |
| 1963 | Santos | 2–4, 4–2, 1–0 |  Milan A. C.
| Giuseppe Meazza, Milan-Maracaná, Rio de Janeiro |
| 1964 | F. C. Internazionale | 0–1, 2–0, 1–0 | .svg){kind=small} Independent
| La Doble Visera, Avellaneda-Giuseppe Meazza, Milan-Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid |
| 1965 | F. C. Internazionale | 3–0, 0–0 | Independent
| Giuseppe Meazza, Milan-The Visera Double, Avellaneda |
| 1966 | Peñarol | 2–0, 2–0 | Real Madrid C. F.
| Centenary, Montevideo-Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid |
| 1967 | Racing Club | 0–1, 2–1, 1–0 |  Celtic F.C.
| Hampden Park, Glasgow-President Perón, Avellaneda-Centenario, Montevideo |
| 1968 | Students of La Plata | 1–0, 1–1 |  Manchester United F. C.
| La Bombonera, Buenos Aires-Old Trafford, Manchester |
| 1969 | Milan A. C. | 3–0, 1–2 | Students of La Plata
| San Siro, Milan-La Bombonera, Buenos Aires |
| 1970 |  S. C. Feijenoord | 2–2, 1–0 | Students of La Plata
| La Bombonera, Buenos Aires-De Kuip, Rotterdam |
| 1971 | National | 1–1, 2–1 | .svg){kind=small} P. A. E. Panathinaikós
| Karaiskákis Stadium, El Pireo-Estadio Centenario, Montevideo |
| 1972 | A. F. C. Ajax | 1–1, 3–0 | Independent
| Stadium The Visera Double, Avellaneda-Olympic, Amsterdam |
| 1973 | Independent | 1–0 | Juventus F. C.
| Olympic, Rome |
| 1974 | Atletico de Madrid | 0–1, 2–0 | Independent
| Estadio La Doble Visera, Avellaneda-Estadio Vicente Calderón, Madrid |
| 1975 | Not disputed for disagreement for your dates | |||
| 1976 |  Bayern de Munich | 2–0, 0–0 | .svg){kind=small} Cruzeiro
| Olympic, Munich-Esdio Mineirão, Belo Horizonte |
| 1977 | Boca Juniors | 2–2, 3–0 | Borussia Mönchengladbach
| La Bombonera, Buenos Aires-Wildparkstadion, Karlsruhe |
| 1978 | Not disputed for disagreement for your dates | |||
| 1979 | .svg){kind=small} Olympia | 1–0, 2–1 |  Malmö F. F.
| Malmö Stadium, Malmö-Estadio Chaco Defenders, Asunción |
| 1980 | National | 1–0 | Nottingham Forest F. C.
| National Olympic, Tokyo |
| 1981 | Flamengo | 3–0 | Liverpool F. C.
| National Olympic, Tokyo |
| 1982 | Peñarol | 2–0 | Aston Villa F. C.
| National Olympic, Tokyo |
| 1983 | Grêmio | 2-1 (dog.) | Hamburg S. V.
| National Olympic, Tokyo |
| 1984 | Independent | 1–0 | Liverpool F. C.
| National Olympic, Tokyo |
| 1985 | Juventus F. C. | 2-2 (4-2 p.m.) |  Argentinos Juniors
| National Olympic, Tokyo |
| 1986 | River Plate | 1–0 | .svg){kind=small} F. C. Steaua Bucurest
| National Olympic, Tokyo |
| 1987 | F. C. Porto | 2-1 (dog.) | Peñarol
| National Olympic, Tokyo |
| 1988 | National | 2-2 (7-6 p.m.) | P. S. V. Eindhoven
| National Olympic, Tokyo |
| 1989 | Milan A. C. | 1–0 (dog.) |  National athletic
| National Olympic, Tokyo |
| 1990 | Milan A. C. | 3–0 |  Olympia
| National Olympic, Tokyo |
| 1991 | .svg){kind=small} Red Star of Belgrade | 3–0 |  Colo-Colo
| National Olympic, Tokyo |
| 1992 |  São Paulo | 2-1 |  F. C. Barcelona
| National Olympic, Tokyo |
| 1993 | São Paulo | 3-2 | Milan A. C.
| National Olympic, Tokyo |
| 1994 | Vélez Sarsfield | 2–0 | Milan A. C.
| National Olympic, Tokyo |
| 1995 | A. F. C. Ajax | 0-0 (4-3 p.m.) | Grêmio
| National Olympic, Tokyo |
| 1996 | Juventus F. C. | 1–0 | River Plate
| National Olympic, Tokyo |
| 1997 | Borussia Dortmund | 2–0 | Cruzeiro
| National Olympic, Tokyo |
| 1998 | Real Madrid C. F. | 2-1 | Vasco da Gama
| National Olympic, Tokyo |
| 1999 | Manchester United F. C. | 1–0 | Palmeiras
| National Olympic, Tokyo |
| 2000 | Boca Juniors | 2-1 | Real Madrid C. F.
| National Olympic, Tokyo |
| 2001 | Bayern de Munich | 1–0 (dog.) | Boca Juniors
| National Olympic, Tokyo |
| 2002 | Real Madrid C. F. | 2–0 | Olympia
| International, Yokohama |
| 2003 | Boca Juniors | 1-1 (3-1 p.m.) | A. C. Milan
| International, Yokohama |
| 2004 | F. C. Porto | 0-0 (8-7 p.m.) | Eleven Caldas
| International, Yokohama |
| Since 2005, the competition was replaced by the FIFA World Cup of Clubs. | ||||
Statistics
- For a complete statistical summary of the competition see Intercontinental Cup Statistics
Historical classification
The eleven points achieved by Club Atlético Peñarol place it as the leader in the historical classification of the competition among the 44 teams that have ever participated in it. One point below is the second classified, the Argentine Club Atlético Independiente, who in turn is another point above the third, the Associazione Calcio Milan and Real Madrid Club de Fútbol.
This classification is offered below according to the scoring system of two or three points per victory, established by FIFA from the 1994-95 season.
Note: Current score system of 2 or 3 points per win.| Pos | Club | Seasons | Points | PJ | PG | PE | P | GF | GC | Dif | Pts. x3 | Titles | % Success 1 | % Success 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | C. A. Peñarol | 5 | 11 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 15 | 9 | +6 | 16 | 3 | ||
| 2 | C. A. Independent
| 6 | 10 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 12 | -7 | 14 | 2 | ||
| 3 | A. C. Milan
| 7 | 9 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 17 | 15 | +2 | 13 | 3 | ||
| = | Real Madrid C. F.
| 5 | 9 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 8 | +2 | 10 | 3 | ||
| 5 | Santos F. C.
| 2 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 10 | +5 | 12 | 2 | ||
| 6 | F. C. Internazionale
| 2 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 1 | +5 | 10 | 2 | ||
| = | C. A. Boca Juniors
| 4 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 5 | +3 | 8 | 3 | ||
| 8 | C. National F.
| 3 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 4 | +2 | 8 | 3 | ||
| = | Students of La Plata
| 3 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 8 | -2 | 8 | 1 | ||
| = | F. C. Bayern
| 2 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | +3 | 7 | 2 |
Historical scorers table
- For a complete detail see Maximum Intercontinental Cup scorers.
Brazilian Edson Arantes do Nascimento Pelé is the competition's all-time top scorer with seven goals in three games. Behind him is the Ecuadorian Alberto Spencer with six goals in seven games —being the only two to score more than five goals—, both followed by five players with three goals each.
The aforementioned player from Rio de Janeiro was also the only one in history to manage to score a hat-trick in the competition.
Note: Not counted matches and goals in the successor competition to the FIFA Club World Cup.
|  Pelé, the greatest historical scorer of the competition. |
Players with the most matches played
Argentine Miguel Ángel Santoro is the player with the most appearances in the history of the competition with eight appearances in four appearances. Behind him is the Ecuadorian Alberto Spencer and the Uruguayans Luis Cubilla and Ricardo Pavoni with seven games each, followed both by six players with six appearances each.
Note: Not counted matches and goals in the successor competition to the FIFA Club World Cup.
|  Miguel Angel Santoro, player with more tournament matches. |
Other statistical data
Teams
- Major goals: Below are the games where the tournament's biggest goals have been achieved.
Peñarol 5-0 
Benfica (1961).
Real Madrid 5-1 Peñarol (1960).
Santos 5-2 Benfica (1962).
- Increased number of points obtained: Peñarol with 16.
- Increased number of participations:
Milan with 7. - Increased number of games played:
Independent with 11. - Increased number of games won: Peñarol with 5.
- Increased number of games lost: Independent and Milan with 5.
- Increased number of goals converted: Milan with 17.
- Increased number of goals received: Benfica and Milan with 15.
Ending
- Definition by criminal. On five occasions the finalists have come to dispute the criminal sludge, to define the champion:
- Juventus - Argentinos Juniors (1985).
- National -
PSV Eindhoven (1988). - Ajax Amsterdam - Grêmio (1995).
- Boca Juniors - Milan (2003).
- Porto -
Eleven Caldas (2004).
- Repeated endings: on 2 occasions there have been repeated clashes in the Intercontinental Cup
Real Madrid vs. Peñarol (1960 and 1966).- Internazionale vs. Independent (1964 and 1965).
Best Player Award
| Edition | Player | Club |
|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Waldemar Victorino
| National
|
| 1981 | Zico
| Flamengo
|
| 1982 | Jair
| Peñarol
|
| 1983 | Renato
| Grêmio
|
| 1984 | José Percudani
| Independent
|
| 1985 | .svg){kind=small} Michel Platini
| Juventus
|
| 1986 | Antonio Alzamendi
| River Plate
|
| 1987 |  Rabah Madjer
| Porto
|
| 1988 | Santiago Ostolaza
| National
|
| 1989 | Alberigo Evani
| Milan
|
| 1990 | Frank Rijkaard
| Milan
|
| 1991 | Vladimir Jugović
| Red Star
|
| 1992 | Raí
| São Paulo
|
| 1993 | Cerezo
| São Paulo
|
| 1994 | Omar Asad
| Vélez Sarsfield
|
| 1995 | Danny Blind
| Ajax
|
| 1996 | Alessandro Del Piero
| Juventus
|
| 1997 | Andreas Möller
| Borussia Dortmund
|
| 1998 | Raúl
| Real Madrid
|
| 1999 |  Ryan Giggs
| Manchester United
|
| 2000 | Martín Palermo
| Boca Juniors
|
| 2001 |  Samuel Kuffour
| Bayern de Munich
|
| 2002 | Ronaldo
| Real Madrid
|
| 2003 | Matías Donnet
| Boca Juniors
|
| 2004 | Maniche
| Porto
|
Post
- «FIFA Club World Championship TOYOTA Cup: Solidarity – the name of the game» (PDF). FIFA Activity Report 2005 (in English) (Fédération Internationale de Football Association). April 2004-May 2005. Archived from the original on 11 October 2012.
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