Against the current 16th placed team in the Mexican championship, the ‘merengues’, winners of the Champions League and European Super Cup, did not need to wear formal attire, all they needed to do was, at intervals, press a little and accelerate their football to dig into the marker the difference in value between the teams.
The Frenchman Mbappé, in the 37th minute, and the Brazilians Rodrygo, in the 53rd minute, and Vinicius Jr, in the 84th minute, with a penalty, materialized in a goal the supremacy of the Spaniards, who had direct access to the decisive game, while their rival had to remove the worn out player. Botafogo (3 to 0) – Portuguese Artur Jorge’s team came from having won the Copa Libertadores and the Brazilian championship – and the Egyptians from Al Ahly, in the penalty shootout.
Real Madrid thus won its ninth world scepter, this being the fourth in the Intercontinental Cup format (1960, 1998, 2002 and 2024), and the fifth in the Club World Cup (2014, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2022) .
At the same time, this is the 15th trophy won by coach Carlo Ancelotti for the Spanish capital team, making him a record holder at the club, having surpassed the mark he shared with Miguel Muñoz.
Facing an opponent who simply did not put pressure on, Pachuca even started better, but without creating dangerous situations, with the challenge leading to an apparent broken balance in one of Real Madrid’s first accelerations, with Vinicius Jr. tearing through the defense, seat the goalkeeper and watch Mbappé in the small area.
A work of art by Rodrygo, dancing in front of two defenders, at the edge of the area, followed by an arcing shot, resulted in the second goal – VAR warned that Bellingham, in an offside position, intervened in the goalkeeper’s view, however, the referee did not have the same judgment and validated the move – which practically sentenced the match prematurely.
Pachuca still had the opportunity to bother Courtois from time to time, however, only with a header from the veteran Rondón, in the 71st minute, did the Belgian appear to be in trouble, but the ball went over the top.
However, the match started to be played in just one part of the field, until Idrissi, recklessly, tripped Lucas Vasquez into the area, with the VAR once again drawing the attention of the match referee, who agreed with the opinion: Vinicius Jr made the definitive 3-0.
