Women’s Finalissima explained: Why England are playing Brazil at Wembley
England’s Lionesses are playing in the first ever Women’s Finalissima this week at Wembley Stadium.
But what is a Finalissima anyway? Why are England playing in it? And are there tickets still available?
For all of those details, as well as how to watch it on TV and online in the UK, read on.
What is the Women’s Finalissima?
The Women’s Finalissima is a one-off match between the champions of Europe and South America.
As the winners of Euro 2022, England are Europe’s representatives and they face Brazil, who won the Copa America Feminina for the eighth time last year.
Is this a new thing?
Yes, this is the first time the match will have been staged in the women’s game and follows the first men’s Finalissima last year.
That match saw Argentina beat Italy just months before lifting the World Cup in Qatar.
The Finalissima concept, named after the Italian word meaning “grand final”, was born out of close relations between the governing bodies of European and South American football, Uefa and Conmebol.
Where and when is it happening?
The inaugural Women’s Finalissima is set to be played on Thursday 6 April, kicking off at 7:45pm UK time.
As with last year’s men’s match, it is being staged at Wembley Stadium in north west London.
Can I still buy tickets for the Women’s Finalissima?
All general sale tickets, which started at £15 for adults and £7.50 for children, sold out within weeks of their release last year.
Some hospitality packages may still be available via Wembley Stadium.
With capacity set to be 89,000, it means that the match could eclipse the record crowd of 87,192 which attended England’s Euro 2022 final win over Germany.
How to watch the Women’s Finalissima on TV and online
In the UK, ITV has the live rights and is showing the game on its flagship channel ITV1, where coverage starts at 7:30pm.
It is also available to stream on the ITVX app and website.
How important is the Women’s Finalissima?
The winner can claim to be the best team from traditionally the two strongest confederations in football.
As with the Community Shield or the Club World Cup, the fact that the title is only open to a small number of teams strips it of some prestige and meaning, but a win would nonetheless represent a timely confidence boost before the Women’s World Cup in July and August.
Who will win the Women’s Finalissima?
England ought to start as slight favourites, if nothing else because they have home advantage.
The Lionesses are still unbeaten under Sarina Wiegman – a run stretching 29 games now – and won the four-team invitational Arnold Clark Cup with three wins from three in February.
They are without the injured Beth Mead, leading scorer at Euro 2022, but Brazil are also missing a key attacking threat in Marta who, like Mead, suffered a serious knee injury.
Brazil won the most recent match between the sides, a 2019 friendly in Middlesbrough that finished 2-1, but England have won their only other two meetings, which have all come since 2018.