Finalissima clash between Spain and Argentina cancelled over Iran war as Uefa release explosive statement

The Spanish FA said: "Spain was prepared to play as it has always been stated. They set no conditions."

Working alongside Uefa, the federation indicated it had exhausted all available avenues to salvage the encounter between the European and Copa America champions.

Uefa appeared to put the blame on Argentina in a lengthy statement.

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 Ueufa Euro 2024 winners Spain and Conmebol Copa América 2024 champions Argentina cannot be played as hoped in Qatar on March 27.

"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."

They added: "With strong determination to save the important fixture, and despite the understandable difficulties of relocating a match of such importance at extremely short notice, Uefa explored other feasible alternatives but each ultimately proved unacceptable to the Argentinian Football Association.

"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 March 27 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."

Uefa concluded: "Ultimately, Uefa sought a commitment from Argentina that, if a neutral venue in Europe could be found, the game could go ahead on March 27, as planned and announced on December 18 2025, or on the alternative date of March 30. 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 March 27, Argentina declared its availability to play exclusively on March 31, a date which proved to be unworkable.

"As a result, and to Uefa’s regret, this edition of the Finalissima has been cancelled."

Uefa went on to thank Real Madrid, the authorities in Qatar and the Spanish Football Federation for their efforts to rearrange the fixture.

This cancellation follows a similar decision affecting motorsport, with Formula 1 confirming on Saturday that both the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix scheduled for April would not proceed.

The racing organisation cited safety concerns arising from the regional conflict as the reason for scrapping both events.

The Finalissima brings together the winners of the European Championship and the Copa America every four years, with UEFA and South American football's governing body, Conmebol, jointly organising the competition.

Argentina claimed the most recent edition of the trophy, defeating Italy at Wembley Stadium in 2022.

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