Date, Location Set for First-Ever Lamine Yamal, Lionel Messi Clash

Details of the 2026 Finalissima have been belatedly confirmed.

Can Lamine Yamal (left) steal the World Cup from Lionel Messi (right)? / LUIS ROBAYO,FRANCK FIFE/AFPGetty Images

The powers that be have belatedly set a date, kick-off time and location for the 2026 Finalissima which will pit Lionel Messi’s Argentina against a Spain team starring Lamine Yamal in March.

For a long time it appeared as though this glittering clash would never take place. Spain and Argentina have been respective champions of Europe and South America since the same summer of 2024. However, other international obligations have conspired against the organizers of the Finalissima, which had to be delayed until the same year as the upcoming World Cup.

It was announced in October that the fixture would be held at some point in March without a concrete date or venue attached. After two months of deafening silence, some feared (or hoped, in the case of Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni) that it had been scrapped entirely. Yet, CONMEBOL have now announced a firm date of March 27, 2026, with the game set to be staged in Qatar’s Lusail Stadium.

That was the venue for Argentina’s triumphant 2022 World Cup final against France. Many will be hopeful of replicating that success, yet support for this fixture is not universal.

---

When Is 2026 Finalissima Between Argentina and Spain?

• Location: Lusail, Qatar
• Stadium: Lusail Stadium
• Date: Friday, March 27, 2026
• Kick-off Time: 2 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. PT / 6 p.m. GMT

---

Concerns Over Timing of Finalissima

Lionel Scaloni previewed possible changes in Argentina's roster for 2025. / IMAGO/NurPhoto

Scaloni has been notably outspoken in his hestitancy over a Finalissima in March.

“If you ask me, I’d have preferred not to,” he told TNT Sports Argentina in September after the prospective month had first been floated. “Because I think there was enough time to play it earlier. Spain couldn’t do it because they had the Nations League, which they invented themselves.

“For us South Americans, [the Nations League] has been damaging, because it prevents us from competing against European teams. And we weren’t able to play. And now that we can, they can’t—because they’re playing World Cup qualifiers.”

It is not a question of under-valuing the competition for Scaloni. Argentina took great pride in defeating Italy in the inaugural Finalissima. That contest was staged at Wembley in June 2022, five months before the World Cup later that year. Scaloni has proven to be unimpressed with an even shorter preparation period.

“A match of such importance, being played two months before the World Cup ... honestly, I didn’t think it would happen,” he fretted.

“We’ll see if it gets confirmed,” Scaloni concluded at the time, with a mixture of disdain and fatal optimism. A lack of faith in the logistical powers of CONMEBOL and UEFA usually isn’t a bad bet. However, with the marketing power of a clash between Messi and Yamal on the line, even these institutions have at last come up with a concrete schedule.

---

READ THE LATEST SOCCER NEWS, TRANSFER RUMORS AND MATCH REACTION

feed