Italy and Argentina to play ‘Finalissima’ of football in London

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European champions Italy and Copa America winners Argentina will face each other in London on June 1, UEFA and CONMEBOL said on Wednesday.

No venue was announced for the “Finalissima” – the first of three inter-continental championships that two football bodies have agreed to stage.

Italy won the European Championship in July. The match was played at London’s Wembley Stadium, where international football had experienced some of the worst dislocation and organizational failures in recent years.

Thousands of unticketed England fans flocked to the stadium to watch their national team play their first major final in 55 years.

When the inter-continental game plan was announced in September, the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium in Napoli was considered as a possible venue. The late Argentine great had his most famous club seasons at Napoli.

UEFA and CONMEBOL have been building close ties as they worked together to resist pressure from FIFA to stage a men’s World Cup every two years instead of every four years. They have simultaneously opened an office in London to be formally inaugurated at the start of the new year.

Their formal work agreement, previously signed almost two years ago, has now been extended to June 2028.

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