The 1985 Intercontinental Cup was an Association football match played on 8 December 1985, between Juventus, winners of the 1984–85 European Cup, and Argentinos Juniors, winners of the 1985 Copa Libertadores. Recognised as the best edition in the history of the tournament for technical and agonistic level, the match was played at the National Stadium in Tokyo. It was Juventus' second appearance into the competition, after replacing Ajax in 1973.
Venue Tokyo Olympic Stadium Capacity: 48,000
Match
Summary Despite Juventus arriving in Tokyo as the favorites to win the match,Argentinos Juniors vs. Juventus: la final Intercontinental que encendió al mundo by Sebastián Agustinelli at espn.com.ar, 8 Dec 2025 Argentinos Juniors' performance surpassed expectations, efficacy and the play of 20-year old forward Claudio Borghi.
After a balanced first half in which the Italian side seemed more comfortable, Argentinos Juniors took control early in the second. In the 55th minute, Carlos Ereros appeared on a typical diagonal run—one of his trademarks—after a pass from Mario Videla, and chipped the ball over Stefano Tacconi's head.
Then, in the 63rd minute, Michel Platini leveled the score with a penalty after defender Jorge Olguín fouled Aldo Serena. But in the 75th minute, Claudio Borghi, one of the key players for the Argentinos Juniors side, played a through ball to José Antonio Castro, who curled a shot across goal and into the top corner to put his team in a 2–1 advantage. "When Borghi got the ball, I made a run and knew he was coming towards my side. I was able to connect perfectly, and the ball went in at the far post," Castro recounted.
Finally, at 82 minutes, Danish forward Michael Laudrup put the finishing touch on a skillful attacking maneuver by Juventus and scored the 2–2. As after an extra time the score remained the same, a Penalty shoot-out was conducted to determine a winner. Sergio Batista and José Luis Pavoni failed for Argentinos Juniors while conversions by Sergio Brio, Antonio Cabrini, Serena, and Platini set the 4–2 on penalties that allowed Juventus to win their first Intercontinental trophy.
Details
GK 1 Stefano TacconiRB 2 Luciano FaveroCB 5 Sergio BrioSW 6 Gaetano Scirea (c) LB 3 Antonio CabriniDM 4 Massimo BoniniCM 7 Massimo Mauro CM 8 Lionello ManfredoniaAM 10 Michel Platini CF 9 Aldo SerenaCF 11 Michael LaudrupSubstitutes:GK 12 Luciano BodiniDF 13 Stefano Pioli MF 14 Gabriele PinFW 15 Marco PacioneFW 16 Massimo Briaschi Manager: Giovanni Trapattoni
GK 1 Enrique VidalléRB 4 Carmelo VillalbaCB 2 José Luis PavoniCB 6 Jorge OlguínLB 3 Adrián Domenech (c)RM 10 Emilio Commisso CM 5 Sergio BatistaLM 8 Mario Videla RW 7 José Antonio CastroCF 9 Claudio Borghi LW 11 Carlos Ereros Substitutes:GK 12 César Roberto MendozaDF 13 Jorge PellegriniMF 14 Juan José López DF 15 Miguel Ángel LemmeMF 16 Renato Corsi Manager: José Yudica
Man of the Match: Michel Platini (Juventus)
Aftermath
The final is regarded as the best Intercontinental Cup ever played, due to the technical virtues of both teams.
The Argentinos Juniors performance received critical acclaim from both, the press and their rivals. Thirty years after the final, Borghi himself admitted that Argentinos Juniors lost the final because its players relayed excessively in their conditions.Claudio Borghi: "Argentinos perdió la final con Juventus por confiar en su jerarquía", ESPN, 8 Dec 2015
After their triumph in the competition, Juventus became the first football team ever—remained the only one until 2022—to have won all official continental competitions and the world title.In addition, Juventus F.C. were the first club in association football history to have won all possible confederation competitions (e.g. the international tournaments organised by UEFA) and remain tied with Tunisia's Étoile Sportive du Sahel as the only in the world to achieve this. Cf.
Also, Italian defenders Gaetano Scirea and Antonio Cabrini became the first European footballers to have won all international club competitions and Giovanni Trapattoni, the first European manager in association football history to do so.
French midfielder Michel Platini was awarded as man of the match.
See also 1984–85 European Cup 1985 Copa Libertadores Juventus F.C. in European football
References