PSG return to Qatar to defend Intercontinental Cup title in December

Continental champions will compete in Qatar this December as PSG seek a second successive Intercontinental Cup title. The final stages return for a third year, following earlier matches in Saudi Arabia and South Africa.

Paris Saint-Germain will return to Qatar in December to defend their FIFA Intercontinental Cup title, after the country was confirmed as host of the tournament’s final three matches for a third consecutive year.

The French club will play in the final on 16 December at Ahmad bin Ali Stadium in Al Rayyan, returning to the venue where they lifted the trophy last year. The other two matches will take place on 9 and 12 December, organisers announced on Thursday.

PSG secured their place by retaining the UEFA Champions League title in the 2025-26 season. Under the competition’s format, Europe’s champions enter directly into the final, while clubs representing the other five continental confederations compete for the remaining place.

Last December, PSG beat Brazil’s Flamengo 2-1 on penalties after a 1-1 draw following extra time, winning their first Intercontinental Cup in front of 42,150 spectators.

Three clubs, one place in the final

Mexico’s Toluca, winners of the Concacaf Champions Cup, will face this year’s Copa Libertadores winners in the Derby of the Americas on 9 December at Jassim bin Hamad Stadium in Doha.

The winners will then meet South Africa’s Mamelodi Sundowns in the Challenger Cup at the same venue on 12 December, with a place against PSG in the final at stake.

Sundowns reached that stage by beating Saudi Arabia’s Al Ahli 2-1 in Pretoria on 19 September to win the African-Asian-Pacific Cup. Al Ahli had opened the tournament with a 1-0 victory over New Zealand’s Auckland FC in Jeddah on 26 August.

The South American representative will be decided in the Copa Libertadores final on 28 November.

The Intercontinental Cup is FIFA’s annual competition for the champions of its six continental confederations. It is separate from the expanded Club World Cup, which is held every four years.

Qatar hosted the final stages of the first two editions of the Intercontinental Cup in 2024 and 2025, having previously staged the 2019 and 2020 editions of the former annual Club World Cup.

This year’s December fixtures will overlap with the closing stages of the Under-17 World Cup, which Qatar is hosting from 19 November to 13 December.

Source: www.euronews.com