Matvey Safonov, the hero of the Intercontinental Cup final, with the trophy in his hands // Photo: apnews.com
The final match of the tournament failed to determine the winner in regulation time. PSG striker Khvicha Kvaratskhelia opened the scoring in the 38th minute. Flamengo midfielder Jorginho scored a penalty in the 62nd minute to restore equality in the score.
The penalty shootout was a golden hour for PSG goalkeeper Matvey Safonov from Russia. He converted four consecutive penalties to set a record for penalty shootouts in FIFA tournaments. PSG’s Vitinha and Nuno Mendes scored in the penalty shootout, while Flamengo had only one player – Nicolas de la Cruz. FIFA recognized 26-year-old Safonov as the best player of the match.
It is noteworthy that under the leadership of Spanish specialist Luis Enrique PSG won all penalty shootouts. In 2024, the Parisians beat Lens in the 1/16 finals of the French Cup (1:1, 4:3 in the penalty shootout), this year – Liverpool in the 1/8 finals of the Champions League (1:1 on the sum of two matches, 4:1 on penalties) and Tottenham in the match for the European Super Cup (2:2, 4:3 on penalties). Enrique has been in charge of PSG since July 2023.
The bronze medalist was Egyptian club Pyramids, who lost 0-2 to Flamengo in the semifinals. PSG reached the final automatically, having bypassed all previous stages. Also participating in the tournament were Al Ahli (Saudi Arabia), Cruz Azul (Mexico) and Auckland City (New Zealand).
The final was held at Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium in Rayyan (Qatar) in the presence of 45,000 spectators. This arena hosted seven matches of the World Cup in 2022. The match was officiated by a team of referees from the United States headed by Ismail Elfat.
PSG earned $5 million for winning the tournament, the club budget of Flamengo was replenished by $4 million. For comparison: the second place at the World Club Championship enriched the French by $106.9 million, and the Brazilians, eliminated in the 1/8 finals – by $27.7 million.
The victory in the Intercontinental Cup allowed PSG to win a sixth trophy in 2025. Parisians made quintuple (five trophies during the season) won the Champions League, European Super Cup, French Championship, French Cup and French Super Cup, and in the final of the Club World Cup lost to Chelsea (0:3). The French club repeated the achievement of Barcelona and Bayern in the number of trophies won in one calendar year. The Spanish club achieved this feat in 2009, and the German club in 2020.
The Intercontinental Cup is the successor to the World Club Championship in the old format, involving the winners of six continental tournaments – Champions League (Europe), Libertadores Cup (South America), AFC Cup (Asia), CAF Cup (Africa), CONCACAF Gold Cup (North, Central America and the Caribbean) and OFC Champions League (Oceania). The tournament has been held since 1960. The most titled is Real Madrid, who have won the trophy nine times. PSG won the trophy for the first time in its 55 years of existence, while Flamengo won it once, in 1981.
