What is the Finalissima?

Italy and Argentina meet tomorrow evening at Wembley to fight out it in the Finalissima in a clash between the European and South American champions. 

The competition is an opportunity for the governing bodies of each continent – UEFA and CONMEBOL – to strengthen ties. 

The trophy has also been renamed the CONMEBOL–UEFA Cup of Champions and traces its history back to previous encounters: one in 1985 and one in 1993.

The original incarnation of the trophy was called the Artemio Franchi Cup, named after the Italian president of UEFA and FIFA executive committee membber  until his death in a road accident when he was 61. Fiorentina's stadium is also named after Franchi.

In the first edition of the tournament, held at the Parc des Princes in Paris, the European champions France took on the South American champions, Uruguay. 

Michel Platini captained France to a 2-0 victory that day with Dominique Rocheteau and José Touré scoring the only goals of the game to hand the first tournament to Europe.

But the South Americans got their revenge when the competition returned in 1993. This time it was held in Argentina, with the Argentine side victorious over Denmark on penalties. 

The game finished 1-1 with the Danes opening the scoring early on through a Néstor Craviotto own goal. The luscious locks of Claudio Caniggia equalised on the half-hour mark. 

Both teams were full of legendary players. The Danish dynamite team included Brian Laudrup and Peter Schmeichel in goal but the Argentinian team takes some beating. Caniggia was joined by Gabriel Batistuta up top supported by a midfield that included Diego Simeone and was captained by Diego Maradona. It was to be Maradona’s final trophy as an Argentina player.

Argentina won 5-4 in the shootout with Caniggia missing for Alfio Basile’s team (Maradona and Batistuta made no mistakes) after Kim Vilfort missed his earlier for Denmark. The game was eventually decided when former Chelsea and Fulham midfielder Bjarne Goldbæk was unable to convert his penalty.

With the score now at Europa 1-1 South America, the third tournament will give one continent the advantage over the other. It's also a chance for Argentina to defend their crown almost 30 years later. 

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On the final game, Chiellini told the UEFA.com: “The thought of being able to play more than 100 games over the course of 18 years, being captain, and lifting an important cup like I did last year at Wembley was the icing on the cake.”

🏆 The prize... 😍#Finalissima pic.twitter.com/EtjL9OECjx

— 🇮🇹 Finalissima: 1.6.22 🇦🇷 (@EURO2024) May 30, 2022