For the first time since 1978, an Italian Serie A player has appeared in a World Cup final.

According to AllCategory, Spain defeated Argentina in extra time in the 2026 World Cup final, but no Serie A players made an appearance.

Lautaro Martinez was unavailable for the match.

Last night's final in New York also brought a rather worrying situation to Serie A: Lautaro Martinez was unable to come on as a substitute after Enzo Fernandez was sent off in stoppage time. This means that for the first time in nearly 50 years, no Serie A player has appeared in a World Cup final.

The last time a Serie A player was absent from a final was in 1978.

This is quite a rare occurrence. The last time this happened was nearly 50 years ago at the 1978 World Cup. In that final, where Argentina defeated West Germany, not a single Serie A player played. Since then, until last night, every World Cup final had at least one Serie A player on the field. This streak was broken when Lautaro Martinez failed to play, and Como's Nico Paz was only on the bench.