Intercontinental Cup (football) Images

The Intercontinental Cup, known earlier as European-South American Cup and Toyota Cup from 1980 to 2004 for commercial reasons by agreement with the automaker, was a football official competition endorsed by UEFA and CONMEBOL, contested between representative clubs from these confederations, usually the winners of the European Cup and the South American Copa Libertadores.

Despite being chronologically the fourth international competition created to define "the best team in the world" after Lipton Trophy, Copa Rio and Pequeña Copa del Mundo due to Fédération Internationale de Football Association's inability to organize club competitions, it is considered by that international governing body as the sole predecessor to the FIFA Club World Cup, held for the first time in 2000.

From its formation in 1960 to 1979, the competition was contested over a two legged tie, with a playoff if necessary until 1968, and penalty kicks later. During 1970s, European participation in the Intercontinental Cup became a running question due controversial events in the 1969 final, and some European Champions Club' winner teams withdrew. From 1980 until 2004, the competition was contested over a single match held in Japan and sponsored by multinational automaker Toyota, which offered a secondary trophy, the Toyota Cup.

All the winner teams were recognised de facto as world club champions. The last winner of the cup was Portuguese side Porto, defeating Colombian side Once Caldas in a penalty shootout in 2004.

Created in 1960 at the initiative of the European confederation (UEFA), with CONMEBOL's support, the European/South American Cup, known also as the Intercontinental Cup, was contested as an unofficial competition by the holders of the European Champion Clubs’ Cup and the winners of its newly established South American equivalent, the Copa Libertadores. It was the brainchild of UEFA president Henri Delaunay, who also helped Jules Rimet in the realization of the inaugural FIFA World Cup in 1930. Initially played over two legs, with a third match if required in the early years (when goal difference did not count), the competition had a rather turbulent existence. The first winners of the competition was Spanish club Real Madrid. Real Madrid managed to hold Uruguayan side Peñarol 0-0 in Montevideo and trounce the South Americans 5-1 in Madrid to become the first winners of the competition. The Spaniards titled themselves world champions until FIFA stepped in and objected; citing that the competition did not include any other champions from the other confederations, FIFA stated that they can only claim to be intercontinental champions of a competition played between two organizations. Peñarol would appear again the following year and come out victorious after beating Portuguese club Benfica on the playoff; after a 1-0 win by the Europeans in Lisboa and a 5-0 trashing by the South Americans, a playoff at the Estadio Centenario saw the home side squeeze a 2-1 win to become the first South American side to win the competition.