Paris Saint-Germain won the first Intercontinental Cup in French football by beating Flamengo (1-1, 2 tab to 1) thanks to Matveï Safonov, brilliant on penalties, Wednesday December 17 in Doha, crowning an almost perfect year 2025.
PSG signed a fabulous sextuplet on the lands of its main shareholder, Qatar, joining the largest institutions in Europe such as FC Barcelona or Bayern Munich who have achieved such a lift. “I believe this year is impossible to repeat for Paris Saint-Germain. It’s an unforgettable year”declared Luis Enrique at a press conference.
And the Parisian club did not go far from seven in one go, like the tale of the little shoemaker: it only failed in the final of the first 32-team Club World Cup, against Chelsea (3-0), last summer.
The record remains extraordinary for Luis Enrique’s team, which suffered to bring down the Carioca giant, already crowned in the Intercontinental Cup in 1981 with Zico against Liverpool (3-0).
Safonov, the hero goalkeeper of the match
PSG won almost everything in 2025: its very first Champions League, the Cup, the Championship and the Champions Trophy in France, the European Super Cup and finally this trophy that no French team had ever competed for. European champion in 1993, Olympique de Marseille was excluded in the embers of the VA-OM affair.
The hero of this great premiere is called Safonov. Established for the fourth time in a row in goal, while Lucas Chevalier, not convincing enough since his arrival in Paris, has been recovering from his ankle injury for two matches, the Russian scored valuable points.
He deflected Flamengo’s last four attempts, notably that of Pedro, who had tried to trap it by marking a clear timeout before his shot. “It’s the first time I’ve seen a goalkeeper save four shots on goal”greeted Luis Enrique, admiringly.
The Brazilian tried to get a retake, arguing that Safonov had moved from his line before the shot, but American referee Ismail Elfath told him no.
The Russian goalkeeper’s prowess may have reignited a goal war in Paris, where Lucas Chevalier had been number one since the start of the season before getting injured in a period when doubts crept in over his performances.
Safonov was unable to do anything about the penalty taken perfectly during the 90 minutes by a specialist in the exercise, the Italian Jorginho (62 sp), following a foul by Marquinhos on the Uruguayan Giorgian De Arrascaeta. The Parisian captain revived Flamengo who had not been dangerous until then.
A close match
At one all, the Brazilians defended tooth and nail at the Al Rayyan stadium and did everything to slow down the game, not hesitating to use shirt pulling.
Before Jorginho’s penalty, PSG thought they were heading towards a victory without forcing too much, thanks to a goal from Georgian Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (38th), helped by the insufficient deflection of goalkeeper Rossi who put the ball back in his path. The center came from Désiré Doué, for his first start since October 29 and his injury in Lorient.
Another good news from the infirmary, Ousmane Dembélé also played again, replacing Doué (78). But the Golden Ball did not shine, he missed a match point (116) as well as his shot on goal, hit well above. Bradley Barcola, still struggling, also missed his entry and his shot on goal. But the main thing was done, the formidable sextuplet.
