Argentina and Spain were denied a proper decider in March, when politics and logistics got in the way of a match nobody wanted to miss. Fate paired them anyway five weeks ago in the World Cup final. Now, according to ONE, the two federations are back at the table trying to finish the job: advanced negotiations are reportedly underway to finally stage the postponed Finalissima in November, at the very stadium where it was originally supposed to happen.
The Finalissima pits the reigning European champion against the reigning South American champion — Spain qualify as winners of Euro 2024, Argentina as holders of the Copa América 2024 crown they won in the tournament's 2022 revival against Italy at Wembley. This latest edition was first pencilled in for 27 March 2026 at Lusail Stadium in Qatar, the same arena where Argentina beat France on penalties to win the 2022 World Cup.
That fixture never happened. Qatar suspended sporting activity after missile strikes hit Iran in late February, forcing organisers to scramble for a new venue. UEFA and Spain's federation pushed for Real Madrid's Bernabéu; CONMEBOL and Argentina's federation wanted Buenos Aires' Estadio Monumental instead. The two sides could not agree, and the match was scrapped in mid-March.
Football supplied its own resolution regardless. Spain and Argentina met at the World Cup itself on 19 July at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, with Ferran Torres settling a goalless, suffocating final in the 106th minute of extra time to hand Spain their second World Cup title and end Lionel Messi's tournament in near silence.
That result, ONE notes, is exactly why the appetite for a genuine Finalissima has not gone away. Per Argentine media reports picked up by ONE, and first flagged by ESPN Argentina's Martín Arévalo, Qatar's government has already moved to reacquire hosting rights for a November staging, with Lusail again the leading candidate venue.
Nothing here is official yet. Neither UEFA nor CONMEBOL, nor the Spanish or Argentine federations, have confirmed a date, and ONE is careful to frame this as negotiations at an advanced stage rather than a done deal — a distinction that matters given the same fixture collapsed once before over exactly this kind of logistical wrangle.
For Argentina, the calculus is also personal. If Messi keeps playing into the back end of the year, a November date at Lusail would hand him one more shot at silverware with the national team, on the same ground where he lifted the World Cup in 2022 — a full-circle occasion the Argentine press has already begun to build around him.
Spain, for their part, have barely paused for breath since East Rutherford; Madrid gave the squad a homecoming parade before nearly two million people this week. A rematch so soon after such a tight final would arrive with genuine stakes attached, not just ceremony, and explains why a report with no official confirmation behind it has still travelled as far and as fast as it has.
