Only two clubs have had players in the final since Spain 1982

The final between Argentina and France on Sunday has an incredible reality. Since the 1982 World Cup in Spain, only two teams have been represented by one player in the decisive match. That was 40 years ago and in each of the eleven editions Inter Milan and Bayern Munich can boast it.

This amazing streak is partly explained by the regular presence of Germany and Italy in those eleven finals: the ‘Mannschaft’ in 1982, 1986, 1990, 2002 and 2014; the ‘azzurra’ in 1982, 1994 and 2006. And also due to the fact that Bayern and Inter are two of the most important clubs in the Bundesliga and Serie A.

However, the two will continue to be present in the World Cup final despite the fact that Germany lost in the group stage of the last two editions of the tournament, while Italy has yet to qualify for Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022.

On Sunday, Inter will have just one player in the final: Argentine striker Lautaro Martínez. In contrast, Bayern Munich will have three in the French ranks: defenders Benjamin Pavard and Dayot Upemecano and winger Kingsley Coman. A fourth member of the Bavarian team, Lucas Hernández, was also called up by Didier Deschamps but suffered a serious knee injury against Australia in the ‘bleus’ debut at Qatar 2022.

Spain 1982: Italy-RFA (3-1)

Bayern (3): Paul Breitner, Wolfgang Dremmler, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge

Inter (5): Giuseppe Bergomi, Alessandro Altobelli, Giampiero Marini, Ivano Bordon, Gabriele Oriali

Mexico 1986: Argentina-RFA (3-2)

Bayern (5): Andreas Brehme, Lothar Matthäus, Klaus Augenthaler, Norbert Eder, Dieter Hoeness

Inter (2): Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Daniel Passarella

Italy 1990: FRG-Argentina (1-0)

Bayern (6): Stefan Reuter, Jürgen Kohler, Klaus Augenthaler, Raimond Aumann, Hans Pflügler, Olaf Thon

Inter (3): Andreas Brehme, Lothar Matthäus, Jürgen Klinsmann

USA 1994: Brazil-Italy (0-0, 3-2 penalties)

Bayern (1): Jorginho

Inter (1): Nicola Berti

France 1998: France-Brazil (3-0)

Bayern (1): Bixente Lizarazu

Inter (2): Youri Djorkaeff, Ronaldo

South Korea/Japan 2002: Brazil-Germany (2-0)

Bayern (4): Oliver Kahn, Thomas Linke, Carsten Jancker, Jens Jeremies

Inter (1): Ronaldo

Germany 2006: Italy-France (1-1, 5-3 penalties)

Bayern (1): Willy Sagnol

Inter (1): Marco Materazzi

South Africa 2010: Spain-Netherlands (1-0)

Bayern (3): Marc van Bommel, Arjen Robben, Edson Braafheid

Inter (1): Wesley Sneijder

Brazil 2014: Germany-Argentina (1-0)

Bayern (7): Manuel Neuer, Philip Lahm, Jérôme Boateng, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Thomas Müller, Toni Kroos, Mario Götze

Inter (3): Rodrigo Palacio, Hugo Campagnaro, Ricky Álvarez

Russia 2018: France-Croatia (4-2)

Bayern (1): Corentin Tolisso

Inter (2): Ivan Perisic, Marcelo Brozovic

Qatar 2022: Argentina-France

Bayern (3): Benjamin Pavard, Dayot Upamecano, Kingsley Coman

Inter (1): Lautaro Martinez