FIFA Intercontinental Cup Final Odds: Real Madrid vs Pachuca

While football tends to be unpredictable at times, one thing that we can count on is that we will see changes happening all the time.

The Club World Cup will take on a whole new format next year, with a massive month-long tournament, and the competition is now known as the Intercontinental Cup, the final of which is coming on Wednesday, December 18.

FIFA Intercontinental Cup Final Odds Analysis

It can all be a little confusing, but all we can do is focus on the next game up, with the upcoming final having Real Madrid and Pachuca taking part.

With that said, who will come out on top? Let’s see if we can break it all down.

The History of the Tournament

In terms of history, the Intercontinental Cup is still relatively new, with the first final coming in 2000. This is a match that was even played in the COVID year 2020, although, it was a severely reduced crowd that saw Bayern Munich beat UANL 1-0. Since the inception of the final, there have been 12 different winners, with only 4 teams winning it more than once.

The most successful team at this point is Real Madrid, who have won the Intercontinental Cup no less than 5 times. This will be the first appearance for Pachuca, and when you consider that they are facing the most successful club in this competition, you wonder if this might be a bit of a mismatch.

Real Madrid are no strangers to a #FIFAIntercontinentalCup final! ⏪🏆 pic.twitter.com/SFwBW3L2MH
— FIFA Club World Cup (@FIFACWC) December 17, 2024

The format is quite simple, but getting to the final is certainly not. Real Madrid made it to this game by winning the Champions League last season, while Pachuca had to take a longer road, which we will get to in a moment. In short, there are 5 different football organizations that send a team to the playoffs for a chance at meeting the European champions, so the team that makes it out is certainly deserving of a spot in the final.

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FIFA Club World Cup Odds provided by MyBookie

How The Teams Got to the Final

Real Madrid

Okay, so we already know that Madrid made it to this final by winning the Champions League, but I think it makes sense to talk about the path they had to take in order to win the biggest club competition in the world. Last season, the Champions League still had the group stage in place, so Madrid began in a group alongside Napoli, Braga, and Union Berlin. Looking at the standings, you see that they won all 6 games, but a deeper dive shows that it wasn’t a smooth passage, as 4 of their 6 games were decided by a single goal.

The knockout phase of the tournament followed a pretty similar path, as Real Madrid had to scrap hard to move on to the Champions League Final. They beat RB Leipzig 1-0 away from home in the Round of 16 before drawing 1-1 at home to move on. They then had to go against Manchester City in a matchup that became an instant classic. Likewise, they tied 3-3 at home, before drawing 1-1 on the road in Manchester, eventually making it to the semi-final via penalties.

The semi-final saw Madrid go against Bayern Munich in what was another great matchup. They tied 2-2 in Germany before Madrid won 2-1 at home to make it to the Champions League Final, where they met Borussia Dortmund. In the Final, Madrid left it late, but they scored twice in the final 15 minutes to win 2-0 and become the champions of Europe for the 15th time.

Pachuca

Pachuca made it into the playoffs as the winner of the 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup. They were automatically placed in the 2nd Round alongside, Al Ahly (2023-24 CAF Champions League winners), and Botafogo (2024 Copa Libertadores winners). In the 1st Round, we had Al Ain and Auckland City meet up in what was an easy 6-2 win for El Ain, who made it in as the winners of the 2023–24 winners of the AFC Champions League.

Pachuca started in what is referred to as the Derby of the Americas Round, going against Botafogo from Brazil. They made easy work of the Brazilians, moving on after a 3-0 win to face Al Ahly, who cruised past Al Ain in a 3-0 win. Pachuca and Al Ahly met in what was essentially the semi-final of this tournament, which is referred to as the Challenger Cup. There was nothing separating the teams after a 0-0 draw in regulation time, but it was Pachuca that moved on after winning 6-5 in a penalty shootout.

Who Wins the Final?

The final will be held in Qatar on Wednesday, December 18, with the kick-off set for 12 PM EST. You could argue that given everything else going on for Real Madrid that they might not be taking this one as seriously as Pachuca, but the fact that the Spanish giants have won this trophy on 5 separate occasions tells you all you need to know about that little nugget.

Over the last 5 games across all competitions, Madrid is 3-1-1, scoring 12 and surrendering 7 goals. They do not look as dominant as they did last season, and have in fact struggled in the Champions League, but make no mistakes about it, this is a squad that is stacked with talent from top to bottom.

Pachuca are 3-2 over their last 5 games, with the last 2 coming in this tournament. They have scored 10 and surrendered 5 during that stretch, but the harsh reality is that they look seriously outmatched in this one, assuming that Madrid puts out their strongest 11, which I believe they will do until they have this game under control.

Real Madrid has won all 5 times they have appeared in this final, outscoring the opposition 16-6 in the process. I think they will have this game won ASAP, at which point they can rest their starters for the bigger battles ahead.

FIFA Intercontinental Cup Final Prediction: Real Madrid 4, Pachuca 1

⏪ @ManCity 🆚 @FluminenseFC

Last time out in the #FIFAIntercontinentalCup final! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/sXmbus7Pkr
— FIFA Club World Cup (@FIFACWC) December 17, 2024