The 2022 Finalissima (; ) was the third edition of the CONMEBOL–UEFA Cup of Champions, an intercontinental

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

match between the winners of the previous

South American South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

and European championships. The match featured

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, winners of

UEFA Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the Anniversary#Latin-derived numerical names, quadrennial international men's association footb ...

(held in 2021), and

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

, winners of the

2021 Copa América The 2021 Copa América was the 47th edition of the Copa América, the international men's association football, football championship organised by South America's football ruling body CONMEBOL. The tournament took place in Brazil from 13 June to ...

. It was played at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

in London on 1 June 2022. The match, a revival of the Artemio Franchi Cup last played 29 years prior, was organised by

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

and

CONMEBOL CONMEBOL ( ) or CSF (; ; ), is the continental governing body of football in South America and it is one of FIFA's six continental confederations. The oldest continental confederation in the world, its headquarters are located in Luque, Parag ...

as part of a renewed partnership between the two confederations. Argentina, the defending champions, won the match 3–0 for their second CONMEBOL–UEFA Cup of Champions title.

Background

In 1985 and 1993, the winners of the prior

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro or Euros, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition ...

and

Copa América The CONMEBOL Copa América (; known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship), often simply called the Copa America, is the top men's quadrennial association football, football tournament contested among list of men's national ass ...

tournaments played in the Artemio Franchi Cup (also known as the European/South American Nations Cup), a one-off match organised by

and

. It was the national team equivalent to the former Intercontinental Cup on the club level, which was played between the winners of the European Cup/UEFA Champions League and

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as Copa Libertadores de América (), is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in South American club football. The tournam ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

won the 1985 Artemio Franchi Cup in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, while

won the 1993 match in

Mar del Plata Mar del Plata is a city on the coast of the Argentine Sea, Atlantic Ocean, in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is the seat of General Pueyrredón Partido, General Pueyrredón district. Mar del Plata is the second largest city in Buenos Aires ...

. However, the competition was discontinued thereafter. The Artemio Franchi Cup can be considered a precursor of the King Fahd Cup/FIFA Confederations Cup, played in 1992 for the first time and organised by

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

from 1997, which featured the title holders of all the continental championships and

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

. After the 2017 edition, FIFA announced on 15 March 2019 that the tournament would be abolished. On 12 February 2020, UEFA and CONMEBOL signed a renewed memorandum of understanding meant to enhance cooperation between the two organisations. As part of the agreement, a joint UEFA–CONMEBOL committee examined the possibility of staging European–South American intercontinental matches, for both men's and women's football and across various age groups. On 28 September 2021, UEFA and CONMEBOL confirmed that the

and

winners would face each other in an intercontinental match, with the agreement initially covering three editions starting in 2022. The first edition was confirmed to take place during the June 2022 international window at a venue to be confirmed. On 15 December 2021, UEFA and CONMEBOL again signed a renewed memorandum of understanding lasting until 2028, which included specific provisions on opening a joint office in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and the potential organisation of various football events. The match was confirmed to take place in London on 1 June 2022, with the venue yet to be decided. On 22 March 2022, UEFA announced the match would take place at

. At the same time, the brand identity was revealed, and UEFA announced that the "CONMEBOL–UEFA Cup of Champions" was the new name for the Artemio Franchi Cup.

Teams

qualified for the match by virtue of winning

(held in 2021), having defeated

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

on penalties in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

, also held at Wembley, for their second

title.

qualified by winning the

, defeating

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

1–0 in the

for a record-equalling 15th

title, their first trophy in 28 years.

Venue

The match was held at

in London, England. Wembley Stadium opened in 2007 on the site of the original stadium, the demolition of which took place between 2002 and 2003. Owned by

the Football Association The Football Association (the FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest footb ...

(FA), it serves as England's national football stadium. The stadium was a host venue of

, including the

, won by

on penalties over

. The original stadium, formerly known as the Empire Stadium, opened in 1923 and hosted matches at the

1966 FIFA World Cup The 1966 FIFA World Cup was the eighth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in England from 11 to 30 July 1966. England defeated West Germany 4–2 in the 1966 FI ...

, including the

, which saw hosts

beat

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

4–2 after extra time, and at

UEFA Euro 1996 The 1996 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 96, was the 10th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament contested by European nations and organised by UEFA. It took place in ...

, including the

, in which Germany defeated the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

. Wembley also hosts the annual

FA Cup Final The FA Cup Final is the last match in the FA Cup, Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the List of sports attendance figures, most attended domestic football events in the world, with an official attendance of 89,472 ...

, doing so since the White Horse Final of 1923 (excluding 2001 to 2006, when the stadium was being rebuilt).

Squads

Both national teams had to submit a squad of 23 players – of which three had to be goalkeepers – by 29 May 2022, three days prior to the match.

Italy

Italy announced a 39-man preliminary squad on 23 May 2022. The squad was extended to 45 players on 27 May, with eight players added while Domenico Berardi and Andrea Pinamonti withdrew injured. The final squad was announced on 30 May. Manager: Roberto Mancini

Argentina

Argentina announced a 35-man preliminary squad on 13 May 2022. The squad was reduced to 29 players on 20 May. The final squad was announced on 1 June. Manager: Lionel Scaloni

Pre-match

Identity

UEFA revealed the brand identity for the match on 22 March 2022. The match was known as the ''Finalissima'', Italian for "grand final". The logo was based on the

laurel wreath A laurel wreath is a symbol of triumph, a wreath (attire), wreath made of connected branches and leaves of the bay laurel (), an aromatic broadleaf evergreen. It was also later made from spineless butcher's broom (''Ruscus hypoglossum'') or cher ...

, a symbol of victory. It features ribbons in the colours of the competing nations, the green, white and red of Italy on the left, and the white and light blue of Argentina. In addition, several ribbons are in

platinum Platinum is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a density, dense, malleable, ductility, ductile, highly unreactive, precious metal, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name origina ...

and

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

, intended to highlight the significance of the match. According to UEFA, the ribbons are "symbolic of the strong bonds between CONMEBOL and UEFA, and of their commitment to the development of football beyond their geographical zones".

Ticketing

The stadium capacity was 86,000 for the match, with tickets sold to fans and the general public on a first-come, first-served basis via ''UEFA.com''. Available from 24 March 2022, the tickets were available in four price categories: £25, £40, £55 and £99.

Officials

On 30 May 2022, 37-year-old Chilean referee Piero Maza was announced as the referee for the match, made as a joint appointment by CONMEBOL and UEFA. Maza had been a FIFA referee since 2018, though the match was his first senior international fixture as a referee. However, Maza did previously serve as a fourth official and VAR assistant at the 2019 Copa América, as well as a VAR at the 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup. He was joined by his fellow countrymen Christian Schiemann and Claudio Ríos as assistant referees. Spanish referee Jesús Gil Manzano served as the fourth official, with his compatriots Alejandro Hernández Hernández and Juan Martínez Munuera serving as the VAR and one of the VAR assistants, respectively. Tiago Martins of Portugal was the other VAR assistant.

Match

Details

Statistics

Notes

References

External links

Finalissima
{{DEFAULTSORT:Finalissima 2022

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2021–22 in UEFA football 2022 in South American football Italy national football team matches 2021–22 in Italian football Argentina national football team matches 2022 in Argentine football International association football competitions hosted by London 2022 in sport in London June 2022 sports events in the United Kingdom Sports events at Wembley Stadium Association football matches in England Argentina–Italy sports relations