{"id":281093,"date":"2025-07-21T22:58:10","date_gmt":"2025-07-21T22:58:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/281093\/"},"modified":"2025-07-21T22:58:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-21T22:58:10","slug":"messi-vs-yamal-new-country-emerges-as-potential-host-for-argentina-vs-spain-finalissima","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/281093\/","title":{"rendered":"Messi vs. Yamal: New country emerges as potential host for Argentina vs. Spain Finalissima"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The highly anticipated <a href=\"https:\/\/worldsoccertalk.com\/tag\/finalissima\/\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Finalissima\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Finalissima<\/strong><\/a> between <strong>Lionel Messi<\/strong>\u2019s <strong>Argentina<\/strong> and <strong>Lamine Yamal<\/strong>\u2019s <strong>Spain<\/strong> is gaining traction, with the 2026 World Cup less than a year away. While the date is nearly finalized, <strong>a new country has reportedly entered the race to host the showdown<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Spanish Football Federation president Rafael Louz\u00e1n and AFA president Claudio Tapia have <strong>reached an agreement to stage the Finalissima during the March 2026 international break<\/strong>\u2014just ahead of the World Cup. While an exact day has yet to be confirmed, the match is expected to take place in the final weeks of that month.<\/p>\n<p>As with the date, the venue has not been officially confirmed. After England hosted the 2022 edition at Wembley, it once again offered to host the match, <strong>alongside potential bids from Qatar and Saudi Arabia<\/strong>. Now, a fourth contender has emerged.<\/p>\n<p>    Uruguay steps in as Finalissima host candidate <\/p>\n<p>According to TyC Sports, <strong>the Uruguayan Football Association (AUF) is actively pursuing the opportunity to host the Finalissima<\/strong> between Argentina and Spain. The proposed venue is Montevideo\u2019s iconic Estadio Centenario, setting the stage for a blockbuster clash between <a href=\"https:\/\/worldsoccertalk.com\/tag\/lionel-messi\/\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Messi\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Messi<\/strong><\/a> and Yamal.<\/p>\n<p>   <img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"i-amphtml-intrinsic-sizer\" role=\"presentation\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyBoZWlnaHQ9IjY3NSIgd2lkdGg9IjEyMDAiIHhtbG5zPSJodHRwOi8vd3d3LnczLm9yZy8yMDAwL3N2ZyIgdmVyc2lvbj0iMS4xIi8+\"\/>   <\/p>\n<p>The AUF\u2019s intention is to <strong>stage the match just before renovation work begins at the stadium ahead of the 2030 World Cup<\/strong>. That tournament will open at the Centenario in tribute to the 100th anniversary of the inaugural World Cup before shifting across the Atlantic to co-hosts <a href=\"https:\/\/worldsoccertalk.com\/tag\/spain\/\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Spain\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Spain<\/strong><\/a>, Portugal, and Morocco.<\/p>\n<p>While no official confirmation has been issued, <a href=\"https:\/\/worldsoccertalk.com\/tag\/uruguay\/\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Uruguay\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Uruguay<\/strong><\/a> officials have reportedly <strong>begun logistics planning<\/strong> to ensure the venue meets FIFA\u2019s international hosting standards.<\/p>\n<p>Of the three Finalissima editions held to date, <strong>only one has taken place on South American soil<\/strong>\u2014in 1993, when <a href=\"https:\/\/worldsoccertalk.com\/tag\/argentina\/\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Argentina\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Argentina<\/strong><\/a> hosted Denmark. Now, the site of the first-ever World Cup final could once again make history, potentially serving as the stage for a generational clash between Messi and <a href=\"https:\/\/worldsoccertalk.com\/tag\/lamine-yamal\/\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Yamal\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Yamal<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The highly anticipated Finalissima between Lionel Messi\u2019s Argentina and Lamine Yamal\u2019s Spain is gaining traction, with the 2026&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":281094,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5312],"tags":[10105,2000,299,105677,15217,2746,104,22710],"class_list":{"0":"post-281093","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-spain","8":"tag-argentina","9":"tag-eu","10":"tag-europe","11":"tag-finalissima","12":"tag-lamine-yamal","13":"tag-lionel-messi","14":"tag-spain","15":"tag-uruguay"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114893705947430134","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281093","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=281093"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281093\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/281094"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=281093"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=281093"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=281093"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}