The World Cup Final between France and Argentina will have several current Serie A players participating, but the links with Italian football go far deeper for both teams.
It kicks off on Sunday at 15.00 GMT and concludes the tournament in Qatar.
Naturally, the focus for Calcio fans will be on those players who already represent the league, such as Milan pair Olivier Giroud and Theo Hernandez, Juventus players Adrien Rabiot, Angel Di Maria and Leandro Paredes, Roma’s Paulo Dybala or Inter hitman Lautaro Martinez.
However, looking beyond that, it becomes clear just how much Italian football has influenced these sides.
In the Argentina squad alone there are another five former Serie A players in the World Cup Final squad.
Nahuel Molina was snapped up as a free agent by Udinese and by the time he left two years later was commanding a €20m plus bonuses fee from Atletico Madrid.
Rodrigo De Paul was another who went through the Udinese scouting system and ended up at the Wanda Metropolitano.
Cristian ‘Cuti’ Romero moved to Italy in 2018 for Genoa at the age of 20, where he flourished and earned a €31.5m move to Juventus, which then grew to a €50m valuation plus bonuses when Atalanta sold him to Tottenham this year.
German Pezzella spent four years at Fiorentina before returning to Real Betis and as the name would suggest has Italian heritage.
As for the France squad, those vying for a winners’ medal include former Fiorentina and Roma midfielder Jordan Veretout.
Kingsley Coman only spent one year at Juventus, but still provided a huge financial boost after arriving as a free agent from PSG, as Bayern Munich eventually spent a total €28m to sign him outright.