FIFA sought to name a global champion of club football by establishing the Club World Cup at the start of the 21st century.
The Intercontinental Cup had been running since 1960, but only teams from Europe and South America were involved. FIFA wanted something grander.
The Club World Cup started out as an eight-team tournament with each of the six confederations represented. It remained a relatively exclusive competition until its grand expansion of 2025. Now a 32-team event, Gianni Infantino holds out hope that his brainchild will function as the "big bang" of football and usher in a new dawn, whatever that may look like.
The tournament has struggled for significance since its inception, but there have been some belting finales.
Here are Sports Illustrated’s top five Club World Cup finals of all time.
5. Real Madrid 5–3 Al Hilal (2022)
No team has had more success in this competition than Real Madrid, and their most recent triumph came following the highest-scoring final in Club World Cup history.
Their opponents, Al Hilal, hadn’t yet embarked on their huge transfer splurges, with Moussa Marega perhaps the most recognisable name in Ramón Díaz’s starting XI.
Still, they found the back of the net three times against the perennial European champions, who were always in control of the final.
Madrid took 2–0, 4–1 and 5–2 leads, with Vinícius Júnior and Federico Valverde scoring braces. Karim Benzema, who’d later join Al Hilal’s Saudi Pro League rivals Al Ittihad, was also on the scoresheet in Rabat.
4. Internacional 1–0 Barcelona (2006)
The first three winners of this competition were Brazilian, but no victor was more surprising than Internacional in 2006.
While a fine team in their own right and with a burgeoning Alexandre Pato in their ranks, they were expected to be overawed by a Barcelona outfit that had conquered Europe just months before.
Superstars littered Frank Rijkaard’s starting XI in Yokohama, including Deco, Ronaldinho and Andrés Iniesta, but they were stymied by the Brazilians, who made their one second-half moment count.
Substitute Adriano Gabiru was slotted in behind Barça’s backline expertly by Iarley, and the forward made no mistake with an impish finish that Víctor Valdés could only delay hitting the back of the net.
"This isn't a failure from the team, this is my failure," Barça boss Rijkaard suggested post-match.
3. Barcelona 2–1 Estudiantes (2009)
Barcelona were almost stunned by South American opposition again three years later, but Pep Guardiola’s all-conquering Blaugrana eventually pulled through against Estudiantes.
The Argentine outfit were responsible for sparking some of the ugliest scenes the sport’s seen back in the 60s, when they infamously beat Manchester United in the 1968 Intercontinental Cup final and lost to Milan the following year.
The team 40 years on was nowhere near as rugged as Osvaldo Zubeldía’s brutes, but they came ever so close to toppling a Barça team regarded by some to be the best club side ever.
Estudiantes were captained by Juan Sebastián Verón, but Mauro Boselli was the goalscorer who’d helped them to Copa Libertadores glory. The striker was at it again here. His first-half header looked set to steer the Argentines to a huge upset, with a subpar Barcelona huffing and puffing for 89 minutes.
Out of nothing, though, Pedro looped a header over the trouser-wearing Damián Albil to equalise before Lionel Messi chested home the winner in extra time.
Estudiantes manager Alejandro Sabella would later lead Messi and Argentina at the 2014 World Cup.
2. Real Madrid 4–2 Kashima Antlers (2016)
Four of the 20 finals to date have required extra time, including the first back in 2000: a drab all-Brazilian affair won by Corinthians on penalties.
A procession was expected for Real Madrid when they faced the first Asian team to reach the Club World Cup final, Kashima Antlers, in 2016.
An early Karim Benzema goal was meant to ignite a rout, but Kashima, seizing their once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, refused to wilt on home soil. Strikes from Gaku Shibasaki on either side of half-time stunned Los Blancos, who required a turnaround in the final third of the contest.
Who else would they turn to other than Cristiano Ronaldo, who had enjoyed one of the finest calendar years of his storied career? After scoring the winning penalty in the UEFA Champions League final and inspiring Portugal to Euro 2016 glory, Ronaldo capped off his outstanding 12 months with a hat-trick in the Club World Cup final to break Kashima hearts.
However, Madrid required an extra 30 minutes to avoid a dramatic upset, with Ronaldo striking twice in the extended period.
1. Milan 4–2 Boca Juniors (2007)
The very best Club World Cup final to date is up for debate, but the 2007 final between Milan and Boca Juniors had a little bit of everything.
These two sides met four years earlier in the Intercontinental Cup, where Milan were stunned by Boca on penalties after Andrea Pirlo, Clarence Seedorf and Alessandro Costacurta all missed from the spot.
The Rossoneri team, in truth, wasn’t drastically different. Six of the players included in the beaten ’03 team started for Carlo Ancelotti again in ’07. Cafu and Filippo Inzaghi also appeared in both games.
Inzaghi was the hero for Milan here, with the clinical forward scoring Milan’s first and fourth goals in an entertaining 4–2 victory. Ancelotti’s side pulled away from Boca after future Inter forward Rodrigo Palacio immediately cancelled out the opening goal.
They more than played their part, but they had no answer for Kaka, who scored one and set up Inzaghi’s two goals. The Brazilian was sensational.
The final concluded with both teams being reduced to ten men, and substitute Pablo Ledesma, who was also sent off, netting a late consolation.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as The Best FIFA Club World Cup Finals in History—Ranked.
