{"id":815645,"date":"2026-03-10T02:01:18","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T02:01:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/815645\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T02:01:18","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T02:01:18","slug":"spain-fa-president-reveals-finalissima-vs-messis-argentina-most-likely-to-move-away-from-qatar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/815645\/","title":{"rendered":"Spain FA president reveals Finalissima vs. Messi\u2019s Argentina most likely to move away from Qatar"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Finalissima<\/strong><\/a>, a generational showdown that would see Lionel Messi<\/strong> and Lamine Yamal<\/strong> compete for a trophy, is now fewer than three weeks from its originally scheduled date, with its venue thrown into serious doubt by the ongoing situation in Qatar. With a decision expected in the coming days, the president of the Spain Football Federation has indicated that the game against <\/strong>Argentina<\/strong><\/a> is most likely to be relocated from Doha<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The match had been set for Friday, March 27 at Lusail Stadium in <\/strong>Qatar<\/strong><\/a>, following an agreement between CONMEBOL and UEFA. But the ongoing regional conflict has forced the parties involved to act quickly, with both confederations firmly opposed to postponing the game and finding an alternative date.<\/p>\n

Speaking on Cadena SER\u2019s El Larguero program, RFEF president Rafael Louz\u00e1n<\/strong> addressed the prospect of keeping the game in Qatar directly: \u201cI think that\u2019s very unlikely. We have already canceled two charters that were scheduled for the trip four days ago<\/strong>. This agreement is with UEFA and CONMEBOL through a company that has contracted six football matches: Spain<\/strong><\/a>-Argentina, Spain-Egypt, Argentina-Qatar, Saudi Arabia-Serbia, and one more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Louz\u00e1n was referring to the Qatar Football Festival 2026, which had been scheduled to run from March 26 to 31 before being canceled amid the situation in the country. \u201cIt was all part of the same package, and it\u2019s a matter we\u2019re going to decide in the coming hours<\/strong>. We signed a contract that, from an economic standpoint, was very lucrative for the Spanish Federation,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\"General<\/p>\n

General view inside the Lusail stadium.<\/p>\n

\u201cA decision will be made within 48 hours<\/strong>. I hope that through our negotiations with UEFA and others, we reach a reasonable agreement that is well-received by the majority,\u201d Louz\u00e1n concluded, setting a clear timeline for when the Finalissima\u2019s fate will be determined.<\/p>\n

\"Argentina<\/p>\n

see also<\/p>\n

Argentina star Paulo Dybala undergoes knee surgery three weeks before Finalissima: Will he miss Spain clash?<\/p>\n

<\/a>Where will the Finalissima be held?<\/p>\n

As soon as Qatar\u2019s viability as a host came into question, a number of alternatives quickly surfaced, including Hard Rock Stadium in Miami and MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, given Messi<\/strong><\/a>\u2018s enormous following in the region. Those options lost traction relatively quickly, however, with Est\u00e1dio da Luz in Lisbon emerging as one of the leading candidates<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Spain was also floated as a possibility, with both the Metropolitano and the Santiago Bernab\u00e9u mentioned as potential venues. Louz\u00e1n addressed that option directly: \u201cFirst of all, even if we could offer Spain, there is also Argentina to consider. This is a match that should be played at a neutral venue. I think it\u2019s clear that it appears it should be in Europe<\/strong>.\u201c<\/p>\n

The federation president then laid out the reasoning that points toward a European solution. \u201cI believe it will be in Europe because, ultimately, if circumstances lead us there<\/strong>, the majority of the players\u2014both Spanish and Argentine\u2014are based in Europe. Therefore, it seems logical that this is what will end up happening,\u201d he concluded.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Finalissima, a generational showdown that would see Lionel Messi and Lamine Yamal compete for a trophy, is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":815646,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5312],"tags":[10105,2000,299,105677,2746,6860,104],"class_list":["post-815645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-spain","tag-argentina","tag-eu","tag-europe","tag-finalissima","tag-lionel-messi","tag-qatar","tag-spain"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116202418365476201","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/815645","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=815645"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/815645\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/815646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=815645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=815645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=815645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}