Where to watch Real Madrid vs Pachulia FIFA Intercontinental Cup live online, TV, prediction and odds

Real Madrid and Pachuca meet in the FIFA Intercontinental Cup on Wednesday in Qatar, a tournament in its first year as the rebranded version of what was previously the FIFA Club World Cup. Manchester City are the holders, having beaten Flamengo last December. This year the La Liga and UEFA Champions League winners can keep the title in Europe with a win.

Real are on a three-game unbeaten streak since losing to Athletic Club and are now back in the reckoning for both La Liga and the UCL after a key win over Atalanta. Held to a draw by Rayo Vallecano, though, it was the sixth time that Carlo Ancelotti's men have dropped points this season after their sluggish start. They also head to Qatar with Kylian Mbappe who had been injured as he continues to struggle to settle at Santiago Bernabeu.

Tuzos endured a poor finish to the Liga MX campaign with just one win in their last eight games which meant a 16th placed finish out of 18 clubs. This will be the Mexican outfit's first-ever meeting with Real but the two will meet again after being drawn in Group H of the Club World Cup alongside Al-Hilal and Red Bull Salzburg next summer.

Here's our storylines, how you can watch the match and more:

How to watch and odds

• Date: Wednesday, December 18 | Time: 12 p.m. (noon) ET
• Location: Lusail Iconic Stadium - Lusail, Qatar
• Odds: Real -550; Draw +480; Pachuca +900

How they got here

Real are here as Champions League winners thanks to their victory over Borussia Dortmund last season while Pachuca's route has taken longer. The Mexicans have already seen off continental champions for the right to take on Los Blancos in Qatar with Botafogo and Al Ahly eliminated en route to this showdown.

Team news

Real: Mbappe will at least travel but Dani Carvajal and Eder Militao are both out while David Alaba has not been called up despite training. Ferland Mendy also misses out but otherwise Real's squad is fairly strong for this one.

Possible Real XI: Courtois; Vazquez, Tchouameni, Rudiger, Garcia; Valverde, Camavinga, Bellingham; Rodrygo, Mbappe, Vinicius Jr.

Pachuca: Andres Micolta has returned from injury and is in strong form so should start here. However, Tuzos are missing the injured Israel Luna who has been out since way back in April when he first got hurt.

Possible Pachuca XI: Moreno; Rodriguez, Cabral, Micolta, Gonzalez; Montiel, Pedraza, Deossa, Bautista, Idrissi; Rondon.

Prediction

Expect this one to be fairly straightforward for Real and for the European kings to win by a couple of clear goals against the Mexicans. Pick: Real 3, Pachuca 0.