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The 2026 Finalissima match between Argentina and Spain has been called off. This was confirmed in a statement by UEFA on Sunday.
Reports said it was called off due to the team’s inability to reach an agreement with the World Champions.
It read: “After much discussion between UEFA and the organising authorities in Qatar, it is announced today that due to the current political situation in the region, the Finalissima between UEFA EURO 2024 winners Spain and CONMEBOL Copa América 2024 champions Argentina cannot be played as hoped in Qatar 27 March.
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“It is a source of great disappointment to UEFA and the organisers that circumstances and timing have denied the teams of the chance to compete for this prestigious prize in Qatar – a country that has demonstrated time and again its capability of staging world-class international events in state-of-the-art facilities.
“UEFA would like to express its deep gratitude to the organising committee and relevant authorities of Qatar for the work that has been put into trying to host the game and its certainty that peace will return to the region soon.”
It added: “The first option was to stage the match at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid on the original date with a 50:50 split of supporters in the stadium. This would have provided a world-class setting, befitting of such a prestigious event, but Argentina refused.
“The second was to stage the Finalissima over two legs – one at the Santiago Bernabeu on 27 March and the other in Buenos Aires during an international window before UEFA EURO and Copa America 2028, again offering a supporter split of 50:50 for the match in Madrid. This option was also rejected.
“Ultimately, UEFA sought a commitment from Argentina that, if a neutral venue in Europe could be found, the game could go ahead on 27 March, as planned and announced on 18 December 2025, or on the alternative date of 30 March. This proposal was also rejected.
“Argentina made a counter suggestion to play the game after the World Cup but, as Spain has no available dates, that option had to be ruled out. Finally, and contrary to the original agreed plan that the match would take place on 27 March, Argentina declared its availability to play exclusively on 31 March, a date which proved to be unworkable.
“As a result, and to UEFA’s regret, this edition of the Finalissima has been cancelled.”
Manchester United opened a three-point advantage over Aston Villa in the race for Champions League qualification with a composed 3-1 victory at Old Trafford on Sunday, their seventh win in nine matches under interim manager Michael Carrick, and a fifth consecutive home success that has transformed the picture at the top of the table since the former midfielder took charge in January.
Three weeks ago United and Villa were level on points. Now, with eight Premier League fixtures remaining, United sit third and Villa fourth, the gap between them exactly three points and the gap to fifth-placed Chelsea six. United are seven points behind second-placed Manchester City but have effectively locked down their position above all teams outside the top four. The afternoon also provided a platform for Bruno Fernandes, whose two assists took his Premier League tally for the season to sixteen — one beyond David Beckham’s previous United record of fifteen in the 1999-2000 campaign — and whose creative output has underpinned every convincing Carrick performance in the past two months.
The first half produced almost nothing of consequence. United controlled possession and territory, but without the cutting edge to test Emiliano Martinez consistently. Matheus Cunha crossed dangerously from the left early on, and Amad Diallo’s header from inside the box drew a sharp save from the Villa goalkeeper, but Villa’s defence — organised carefully by Unai Emery — offered United no channel to exploit. The teams went in goalless.
The second half was different in character from the moment it began. Casemiro opened the scoring in the 53rd minute with a run that belied any suggestion he had lost a step. Fernandes curled a corner toward the near post, Casemiro timed his movement perfectly and glanced a header past Martinez with precision that made the finish look simpler than it was.
The goal came after a spell of second-half pressure that had United pushing Villa back into their own half from the restart, and it was the reward the crowd had sensed was coming. Old Trafford responded with chants of “one more year” for a midfielder whose contract expires at the end of the season and whose future at the club remains publicly unresolved.
Villa responded with a goal of real quality. In the 64th minute, Lucas Digne played the ball across the face of the penalty area after United failed to clear a corner properly, and Ross Barkley, making his first Premier League start in fourteen months, met it with a controlled first-time finish that gave Senne Lammens no chance. There was a nervous wait to determine whether Amadou Onana had been in an offside position, but the goal was given, and Villa were level.
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United reasserted themselves within seven minutes. Fernandes played a sublimely weighted ball into the Villa area, Cunha controlled it on the run, opened his body beautifully, and slotted past Martinez at his near post. It was a goal of exact simplicity — the kind that top-four sides score in decisive matches when their class difference makes itself visible for a single moment. Fernandes’s two assists moved him to a record sixteen for a United player in a single Premier League season, still with eight matches to play. He has now accumulated 100 assists for United in all competitions since signing from Sporting Lisbon in 2020.
Benjamin Sesko, dropped to the bench and evidently motivated to prove a point, was introduced by Carrick in the 75th minute in place of Mbeumo. Six minutes later the Slovenian striker turned inside the Villa area and fired a deflected effort past Martinez to make it 3-1. Carrick’s men had been six wins from six at Old Trafford — their seventh home result under Carrick, all victories. The manager’s reaction on the touchline — a visible jig of delight as the ball crossed the line — reflected both the result’s significance and the emotional investment he has placed in the role he was asked to fill when Ruben Amorim was dismissed in January.
Villa’s afternoon ended in mounting concern about their own trajectory. They have gone without a win in all competitions since the middle of February, a run that includes defeats to Wolverhampton, Chelsea, and now United. Emery’s side lost to Newcastle in the FA Cup and could only draw with Leeds in the league before Sunday’s result. Villa remain a place above Chelsea and Liverpool in the standings but with the gap closing and form running against them, the Europa League route to European football — they remain in the last sixteen — has become the more realistic path to continental qualification than the Premier League top four.
