Russia are the 2021 Tecnotree Intercontinental Cup winners after claiming the final by three goals to two against Iran.

They have now lifted a record four out of the ten Intercontinental Cup, making them the most successful nation in the competition.

In the battle for third, Senegal marked their debut Intercontinental Cup with an impressive performance against the European champions to seal bronze, while Japan beat Spain by a slim margin to claim fifth place as they did in the previous edition.

Russia‘s Boris Nikonorov was awarded the MVP award while Chiky from Spain, scoring nine goals, claimed the Top Scorer trophy. The Best Goalkeeper was awarded to Hamid from Iran.

FINAL

Russia 3-2 Iran

The final this year was a replay of the last Group B game just days before, where the Russians edged the game by four goals to three.

These two nations had met twice before in the Intercontinental Cup final – Iran won on both occasions. However, each team had claimed three of the nine previous additions, and this time the Russians were newly-crowned world champions.

Boris Nikonorov, the winner of both the MVP and Top Scorer awards at the 2021 Mundialto de Clubes with BSC Lokomotiv, spun from an impossible position to sneak in the first goal of the final.

His strike was all that separated the sides at the break, but he was back in the second period to head in number two, and then he completed a hat-trick with an impressive bicycle kick.

Just before the second break, Mokthari gave the Iranian crowd something to scream about, as they pulled an essential goal back.

The number nine then scored an incredible bicycle kick with just 20 seconds left on the clock but a frantic last-minute scramble for an equaliser was successfully defended by Russia, who held on for a record-breaking fourth Intercontinental Cup title.

Goals: 1-0: Nikonorov, min. 9 (1); 2-0: Nikonorov, min. 9 (2); 3-0: Nikonorov, min. 6 (2); 3-1: Mokthari, min. 0 (2); 3-2: Mokthari, min. 0 (3);