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Why PSG are the first French side to compete in the Interncontinental Cup
Dec 17 2025 12:16 · By onefootball.com · 44 Reads
Paris Saint-Germain will face Flamengo tonight in the Intercontinental Cup. In doing so, they will become the first French side to compete in the competition.
Entry – for European clubs – is secured by winning the UEFA Champions League . PSG , however, are not the only side to have won the UCL, of course. Olympique de Marseille also won the competition back in 1993, beating AC Milan in the final in Munich thanks to a Basile Boli goal.
However, that success would be tainted by the VA-OM affair, as it would come to be known, a corruption scandal implicating Marseille , in which the club attempted to bribe Valenciennes players to underperform in a game that would allow Les Phocéens to lift the league title.
Not only did the affair taint their domestic and European success that season, but it also saw them excluded from the Intercontinental Cup later that Autumn. PSG will therefore be the first French side to compete in the competition this evening.
GFFN | Luke Entwistle