(MENAFN- The Peninsula)
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Zurich: The International football Federation (FIFA) announced on Friday that Doha will host three matches of the FIFA Intercontinental Cup 2024, which will feature a new format that includes standalone competitions between the champions of six different continental federations.
This tournament, announced in December 2023, will replace the annual Club World Cup, which will now be held every four years with the participation of 32 teams starting in 2025.
In a press release, FIFA stated that the FIFA Intercontinental Cup 2024 is set to kick off on September 22, with the final match scheduled for December 18 in Doha. This edition will feature five matches, with the first two taking place in the countries of the home teams, while the remaining three matches will be held in Doha.
For 2024 and beyond, for the first time, more than one team per edition will have the chance to play in a FIFA competition on home soil, with the higher ranked of the two clubs involved in each of the first two matches staging the encounter. This means that more people can see their club in action in a FIFA match in the flesh than ever before.
In Match 1, the African-Asian-Pacific Cup Play-Off, Al Ain, winners of the AFC Champions League 2023-2024, will play Auckland City, winners of the OFC Champions League 2024, in Al Ain, the United Arab Emirates, on September 22, 2024.
Silverware will be at stake as of Match 2, when the victors from the African-Asian-Pacific Cup Play-Off meet CAF Champions League 2023-2024 winners Al Ahly in Cairo, Egypt, on October 29, 2024 to compete for the African-Asian-Pacific Cup.
Match 3 - officially named the Derby of the Americas - will take place on December 11, 2024 and will feature Concacaf Champions Cup 2024 winners Pachuca and the eventual CONMEBOL Libertadores 2024 champions, who will be confirmed on November 30, 2024.
On Saturday, December 14, 2024, the winners of matches 2 and 3 will meet in Match 4 to compete for the Challenger Cup and a place in the final.
On December 18, 2024, Qatar's National Day and the two-year anniversary of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 trophy decider between Argentina and France, the Challenger Cup champions will face Real Madrid, winners of the 2023-24 UEFA Champions League, in the FIFA Intercontinental Cup Final (Match 5).
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