Argentina and Italy will compete in the Diego Maradona Cup

Argentina, winner of the Copa América, and Italy, victorious in the Eurocup, will have a confrontation in honor of Diego Armando Maradona.

Maradona will have a drink in his honor, which will be played between the two countries in which he left his mark the most as a footballer. Argentina and Italy already played an important match at that stadium, in 1990.

Argentina for the Diego Maradona cup

Argentina and Italy will play again.
The teams from Italy and Argentina will meet at the end of the year. AP Photo

FIFA has notified the federations of Argentina and Italy that in December or January the Diego Armando Maradona Cup, according to TNT Sports.

The match will take place in Naples, the city of the club in which Maradona triumphed the most and from which even the stadium bears his name.

It will be a one-game duel

Italy and Argentina.
Italy and Argentina already played in Naples, at the 1990 World Cup in Italy. Photo Getty.

The cup will be played for a single match, the same source indicated that FIFA is only waiting for the Italian and Argentine federations to accept

In this way, a special request was made: Meeting between Argentina and Italy in honor of the greatest of all time. And the dream is about to come true.

1626734971 295 Argentina and Italy will compete in the Diego Maradona Cup
Argentina had not won a Copa América since 1993. Photo Archive

As reported by journalist Hernán Castillo on TNT Sports Continental, FIFA has already confirmed to the AFA that the Diego Maradona Cup will be played between the cast of Argentina and Italy.

Talking about a soccer match between both teams immediately refers to 1990 and the World Cup that marked several generations of both countries. Among Argentines, for being one of the greatest feats in history in an epic setting; for the Azzurra, of the most painful defeats it has ever suffered.

Brotherhood and rivalry duel

Argentina and Italy
Argentina and Italy at the hymn ceremony at their game in Naples in 1990. AP Photo.

The first confrontation came later than expected: in 1954, the Italians received the Argentines in Rome and won 2-0 in a friendly. Two decades had to pass until the first World Cup clash, in Germany 74, where they drew 1-1. The duel became a constant in the World Cup events, as they met again in Argentina 78 (Italy won 1-0), Spain 82 (Italy won 2-1), Mexico 86 (they equaled 1-1) and Italy 90 (they drew 1-1 again but Argentina won 4-3 on penalties).

The last three times they met were at a friendly level and Argentina prevailed in both: in 2001 it was one of the highest points in Marcelo Bielsa’s cycle, winning 2-1 with goals from Kily González and Crespo. While he repeated the result with Alejandro Sabella on the bench, turning Higuaín and Banega into a meeting organized as a tribute to Pope Francis. The last time they saw each other was in Manchester and there those of Sampaoli won thanks to the goals of Banega and Manu Lanzini,