September 23 – When FIFA announced the expansion of the Club World Cup, causing a widespread backlash from elite players and their unions over potential burnout, it slipped many peoples’ minds that a totally separate competition with a similar format to the old CWC was also on the calendar.
The first edition of the so-called Intercontinental Cup – revealed last December and featuring the six clubs who won their respective continental cup tournaments – got under way Sunday when AFC Champions League winners Al Ain from the UAE thrashed New Zealand’s Auckland City 6-2 to advance to the second round.
Al Ain now moves on to face African club champions Al Ahly on October 29 in Cairo.
Manchester City won the last Club World Cup, beating Fluminense FC 4-0, and in a significant change from the old format, the final will automatically feature the winners of Europe’s Champions League. That means Real Madrid will play another continental champion on December 18 at a neutral venue.
This is some way mitigates the issues surrounding player welfare, adding just one match to star-studded Real’s schedule.
FIFA has long insisted that outside of Europe there is still an appetite for something akin to the old CWC but how much interest there will be globally for a competition which, to all intents and purposes, is an anachronism and replaced by the controversial new-look, 32-team CWC remains to be seen.
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