The presidents of the RFEF and the AFA, Rafael Louzán and Claudio Tapia, have reached an agreement to play the Finalissima, a match that will pit the current European champions, Spain against the Copa América winners, Argentina. The game is scheduled to take place the end of March 2026, in the run-u[ to next summer’s World Cup.
However, for the match to go ahead as planned, both countries will need to successfully book their place at the World Cup. The only available date in FIFA’s calendar is between March 26 and 31, the period reserved for the World Cup play-off games. That’s not a problem for Argentina, who have already secured their place at the 2026 World Cup.
Spain however haven’t yet. For Luis de la Fuente’s team, the journey to next summer’s finals begins in September.
La Roja will play its first two matches against Bulgaria (Sofia, September 4) and Turkey (Konya, September 7) before hosting Georgia in Elche in October.
Argentina, meanwhile, top the South American standings with 35 points and along with Ecuador and Brazil have mathematically qualified for the finals with two games left to play.
Spain’s route to 2026 World Cup USA
No one expects Spain to end up battling in the playoffs (the top team in each group automatically qualifies while the runner-up heads to the playoff round). However, if the unimaginable happens, the Finalissima would have to be called off as there would be no free dates to play the game - apart from the June window just before the World Cup, something that neither Argentina nor Spain want to do.
The first meeting to organize this second edition of the ‘Finalissima’ was held last winter in Asunción, Paraguay on the occasion of the 75th FIFA Congress. Both FIFA president Gianni Infantino and his UEFA counterpart Aleksander Ceferin encouraged the RFEF and the AFA to try to find a slot which suits both teams so that the game can go ahead.
There has only been one previous edition of the Finalissima - when Argentina beat Italy 3-0 at Wembley in London in June 2022.
The event effectively replaced the old Artemio Franchi Cup, held in 1985 and 1993 with France and Argentina as respective winners, in what was Maradona’s last title with the Albiceleste.
Where will the 2026 Finalissima be played?
Once a date is set, organizers must define a venue for the game to be played. London has offered to host the final again, but there are very attractive offers from both Qatar and Saudi Arabia, the country that, for now, has shown the greatest interest in hosting the match.