Intercontinental Cup (1960–2004) in the context of "Copa Libertadores"

The FIFA Club World Cup (FIFA CWC) is an international men's association football competition organised by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The competition was first contested in 2000 as the FIFA Club World Championship. It was not held from 2001 to 2004 due to a combination of factors, chiefly the collapse of FIFA's marketing partner International Sport and Leisure (ISL). It returned in 2005 as an annual competition until 2023. Following the 2023 edition, the tournament was restructured into a quadrennial event beginning in 2025, adopting a format similar to that of the FIFA World Cup. The current world champions are Chelsea, who defeated Paris Saint-Germain 3–0 in the 2025 final.

The first FIFA Club World Championship took place in Brazil in 2000, during which year it ran in parallel with the Intercontinental Cup, a competition played by the winners of the UEFA Champions League and the Copa Libertadores, with the champions of each tournament both retroactively recognised by FIFA as club world champions in 2017. In 2005, the Intercontinental Cup was merged with the FIFA Club World Championship, and in 2006, the tournament was renamed as the FIFA Club World Cup. The winner of the Club World Cup receives the FIFA Club World Cup trophy and a FIFA Champions Badge.

Panathinaikos Football Club (Greek: ΠΑΕ Παναθηναϊκός Α.Ο. [panaθinaiˈkos] ), known as Panathinaikos, or by its full name, and the name of its parent sports club, Panathinaikos A.O. or PAO (Παναθηναϊκός Αθλητικός Όμιλος; Panathinaïkós Athlitikós Ómilos, lit. 'Pan-Athenian Athletic Club'), is a Greek professional football club based in Athens, Greece.

Panathinaikos was founded in 1908 as "Podosfairikos Omilos Athinon" (Football Club of Athens) by Giorgos Kalafatis. They play in Super League Greece, being one of the most successful clubs in Greek football and one of the three clubs which have never been relegated from the top division. Among their major titles are 20 Greek Championships, 20 Greek Cups, achieving eight times the Double and 3 Greek Super Cups. They are also one of three clubs to win a Greek championship undefeated, going without a loss in a top-flight campaign in the 1963–64 season. Panathinaikos is the only Greek team that has reached the UEFA Champions League final in 1971 (which they lost to Ajax 2–0), and also the semi-finals twice, in 1985 and 1996. It is also the only Greek team that has played for the Intercontinental Cup (1971). Furthermore, they have reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League on another two occasions (in 1992 and 2002), as well as the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup twice (1988 and 2003). They have also won the Balkans Cup in 1977. According to research and polls, Panathinaikos is the second most popular football team in Greece. Panathinaikos is also a member of the European Club Association.

The 2005 FIFA Club World Championship (officially known as the FIFA Club World Championship Toyota Cup Japan 2005 for sponsorship reasons) was the second FIFA Club World Championship, a football competition organised by FIFA for the champion clubs of the six continental confederations. It was the first to be held after by the merger between the Intercontinental Cup and the FIFA Club World Championship (which had been played in a first edition in 2000).

The tournament was held in Japan from 11 to 18 December 2005 and won by Brazilian club São Paulo, who defeated English side Liverpool 1–0 in the final.

Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional football club based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Nicknamed the Red Devils, they were founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, but changed their name to Manchester United in 1902. After a spell playing in Clayton, Manchester, the club moved to their current stadium, Old Trafford, in 1910.

Domestically, Manchester United have won a joint-record twenty top-flight league titles, thirteen FA Cups, six League Cups and a record twenty-one FA Community Shields. Additionally, in international football, they have won the European Cup/UEFA Champions League three times, and the UEFA Europa League, the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, the UEFA Super Cup, the Intercontinental Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup once each. Appointed as manager in 1945, Matt Busby built a team with an average age of just 22 nicknamed the Busby Babes that won successive league titles in the 1950s and became the first English club to compete in the European Cup. Eight players were killed in the Munich air disaster, but Busby rebuilt the team around star players George Best, Denis Law and Bobby Charlton – known as the United Trinity. They won two more league titles before becoming the first English club to win the European Cup in 1968.

Juventus Football Club (/juːˈvɛntəs/ yoo-VEN-təs; Italian: [juˈvɛntus]; from iuventūs, Latin for 'youth'), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (Italian: [ˈjuːve]), is an Italian professional football club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football league system. Founded in 1897 by a group of Turinese students, the club played in different grounds around the city, and has played in the Juventus Stadium since 2011.

Nicknamed la Vecchia Signora ("the Old Lady"), it has won 36 official league titles, 15 Coppa Italia trophies and nine Italian Super Cups, being the record holder for all these competitions; they also hold two Intercontinental Cups, two European Cup / UEFA Champions Leagues, one European Cup Winners' Cup, three UEFA Cups (Italian record), two UEFA Super Cups and one UEFA Intertoto Cup (Italian record). Consequently, the side leads the historical Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio (FIGC) classification, whilst on the international stage the club occupies the sixth position in Europe and the twelfth in the world for most confederation titles won with eleven trophies, as well as the fourth in the all-time Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) competitions ranking, having obtained the highest coefficient score during seven seasons since its introduction in 1979, the most for an Italian team in both cases and joint second overall in the last cited.

A treble in association football is achieved when a club team wins three trophies in a single season. A continental treble involves winning the club's top-level domestic league competition, main domestic cup competition, and main continental trophy. Although winning a second-tier continental trophy (e.g. Europa League) has also been described as a continental treble, it is not as widely accepted. A domestic treble involves winning three national competitions—including the league title, the primary cup competition, and one secondary competition, such as a league cup.

Competitions which consist of a single match or a two-leg match are not normally counted as part of a continental treble (e.g., the FA Community Shield, Supercopa de España, Supercoppa Italiana, Trophée des Champions, DFL-Supercup, UEFA Super Cup, Recopa Sudamericana, FIFA Club World Cup (2005–2023 editions), Intercontinental Cup and others).

CONMEBOL (/ˈkɒnmɪbɒl/ KON-mib-ol) or CSF (Spanish: Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol; Portuguese: Confederação Sul-Americana de Futebol; lit. 'South American Football Confederation'), is the continental governing body of football in South America and it is one of FIFA's six continental confederations. The oldest continental confederation in the world, its headquarters are located in Luque, Paraguay. CONMEBOL is responsible for the organization and governance of South American football's major international tournaments. With 10 member football associations, it has the fewest members of all the confederations in FIFA.

CONMEBOL national teams have won ten FIFA World Cups (Brazil five, Argentina three and Uruguay two) and CONMEBOL clubs have won 22 Intercontinental Cups and 4 FIFA Club World Cups. Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay have won two Olympic gold medals each.

The 2005 FIFA Club World Championship final was an association football match played between São Paulo of Brazil, the CONMEBOL club champions, and Liverpool of England, the UEFA club champions, on 18 December 2005 at the International Stadium Yokohama, Japan. It was the final match of the 2005 FIFA Club World Championship, a competition for the winners of the primary cup competitions of FIFA's continental members. The Club World Championship replaced the Intercontinental Cup, which both teams had competed in before. São Paulo had won the Intercontinental Cup twice in 1992 and 1993, while Liverpool had lost twice in 1981 and 1984.

The teams qualified for the championship by winning their continent's primary cup competition. São Paulo won the 2005 Copa Libertadores, defeating Brazilian team Atlético Paranaense 5–1. Liverpool won the 2004–05 UEFA Champions League, defeating Italian team Milan 3–2 in a penalty shootout after the match had finished 3–3. Both teams played one match in the championship en route to the final. São Paulo beat 2005 AFC Champions League winners Al-Ittihad 3–2, while Liverpool beat 2005 CONCACAF Champions' Cup winners Deportivo Saprissa 3–0.