London’s Wembley Stadium has today (Tuesday) been selected to host a one-off match between Euro 2020 winner Italy and Copa América champion Argentina on June 1.
It was announced in December that London would stage the match, which has been dubbed Finalissima, and Wembley has now been confirmed as the destination.
The match forms part of a Memorandum of Understanding between football’s European governing body UEFA and the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL). The agreement between the two bodies will include a shared office in London and collaboration on a number of events, the first of which will be the Finalissima.
Tickets for the match at Wembley will go on sale on Thursday. Prices will range from £25 (€30/$33) for Category 3 tickets to £99 for Ticket+, a Category 1 seat with access to the Wembley Club level, a premium lounge, a complimentary drink and access to a pay bar and food facilities.
It will mark the first time in 29 years that such a match has been held, with Diego Maradona’s Argentina defeating Denmark on penalties back in 1993.
The decision to stage the Finalissima at Wembley comes after the Euro 2020 final at the stadium last summer was marred by significant crowd trouble as a number of ticketless fans forced their way into the venue for the match between England and Italy.
It had been suggested that Naples’ Stadio Diego Armando Maradona would be selected to host the Finalissima. Maradona, who died in November 2020, won the World Cup with Argentina and two Serie A titles with Italian side Napoli, which renamed its stadium in honour of the club legend.
Today’s announcement comes as the UK and Ireland appear set to land hosting rights for the 2028 edition of UEFA’s European Championship in the absence of any rival bids.
Image: Jaanus Jagomägi on Unsplash
