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Real Madrid beat Mexican side Pachuca 3-0 on Wednesday to win the first-ever FIFA Intercontinental Cup.
The first half passed without incident at Qatar’s Lusail Stadium, site of the 2022 World Cup final, but Madrid took the lead in the 37th minute with its first big chance.
A beautiful team goal saw the reigning European champions take control of the final, with Vinicius Junior finally rounding the Pachuca goalkeeper before teeing up Kylian Mbappé.
Madrid needed just eight minutes to double their lead after the restart and have one hand on the trophy. Rodrygo was the man given room to breathe, pretending to shoot with his left foot on the edge of the penalty area before curling an exquisite right-footed finish into the bottom corner.
CONCACAF champions Pachuca tried to reduce the deficit in the final minutes while increasing their intensity, but Madrid scored a third in the 84th minute to completely end any slight hope of finishing in the stands. Lucas Vázquez was brought down in the area and Vinicius almost converted the subsequent penalty to secure the Intercontinental Cup for Los Blancos.
*Player ratings provided by FotMob*
Player | Ratings |
|---|---|
GK: Thibaut Courtois | 8.1/10 |
RB: Lucas Vazquez | 7.3/10 |
CB: Aurelien Tchouameni | 7.0/10 |
CB: Antonio Rudiger | 7.1/10 |
pound: Francis Garcia | 7.9/10 |
CENTIMETER: Federico Valverde | 8.0/10 |
CENTIMETER: Eduardo Camavinga | 7.9/10 |
YOU: Rodrygo | 8.4/10 |
AM: Judas Bellingham | 7.9/10 |
LW: Vinícius junior | 8.9/10 |
STREET: Kylian Mbappé | 8.7/10 |
SUB: Brahim Díaz (62′ by Mbappé) | 6.6/10 |
SUB: Dani Ceballos (62′ for Camavinga) | 6.5/10 |
SUB: Luka Modric (70′ by Rodrygo) | 6.1/10 |
SUB: Raúl Asencio (88′ by Vázquez) | N/A |
SUB: Arda Guler (88′ for Bellingham) | N/A |
Unused substitutes: Andriy Lunin (GK), Fran González (GK), Jesús Vallejo, Lorenzo Aguado, Youssef Enríquez, Endrick.
