Spain-Argentina Finalissima canceled after Qatar match is called off
The Finalissima between Spain and Argentina has been canceled after plans to stage the match in Qatar were scrapped because of the ongoing U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran, with UEFA and the Argentine Football Association offering different accounts of why no replacement arrangement was reached.
UEFA said Sunday that the match between the UEFA Euro 2024 winners and the CONMEBOL Copa América 2024 champions could no longer be played in Qatar on March 27 because of the “political situation in the region.”
Qatar has been among the Gulf countries targeted by Iran during the ongoing conflict.
After Qatar was ruled out, UEFA said it explored several alternatives but none were accepted by the Argentine Football Association. UEFA said it first proposed holding the match at Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid on March 27 with a 50:50 split of supporters, but said Argentina refused.
UEFA then proposed a two-leg format, with one match in Madrid on March 27 and another in Buenos Aires during an international window before Euro 2028 and Copa América 2028, but said that option was also rejected.
UEFA said it later sought Argentina’s commitment that the match could still go ahead on March 27, or on March 30, if a neutral venue in Europe could be found. According to UEFA, Argentina rejected that proposal as well, suggested playing after the World Cup, and then said it was available only on March 31, a date UEFA said was “unworkable.”
“With strong determination to save the important fixture, and despite the understandable difficulties of relocating a match of such importance at extremely short notice, UEFA explored other feasible alternatives,” the governing body said.
The Argentine Football Association, known as the AFA, disputed UEFA’s account and said Argentina had insisted from the outset that the match should be played at a neutral venue.
In its own statement, the AFA said UEFA had pushed for Madrid after the Qatar option fell through, but that holding a single match in Spain would have violated the principle of sporting fairness because it would not have been neutral ground.
The AFA said a proposal to play at a neutral venue in Italy on March 27 reached it on Saturday and that Argentina accepted the venue “without objection,” asking only that the match be moved to March 31 because of the limited time available. The AFA said UEFA later informed it that March 31 was not possible.
“Unfortunately, it was not possible to reach a final agreement for the match to take place because the requested date alternative was not accepted given the little time available,” the AFA said.
The Finalissima is a one-off match between the champions of Europe and South America, revived through a partnership between UEFA and CONMEBOL. Argentina won the previous edition in 2022, beating Italy 3-0 at Wembley Stadium in London.
UEFA said it regretted the cancellation and thanked the organizers in Qatar, Real Madrid and the Spanish Football Federation for their efforts to try to stage the match. It did not extend similar thanks to AFA or CONMEBOL.
The AFA, in its own statement, thanked Qatar, UEFA and the Spanish federation, and said it regretted that the match could not be played despite what it described as its consistent willingness to play at a neutral venue.
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
