2014 FIFA World Cup Final Cup match between them, equalling a tournament record for meetings between two teams (along with Brazil vs Sweden, and Germany vs Yugoslavia). The last three meetings were in three consecutive World Cups, having met in quarter-finals of 2006 and 2010 campaigns. In the 1966 FIFA World Cup, Argentina and West Germany played a 0–0 draw in the group stage. FIFA cautioned Argentina for its violent style against the Germans which saw Argentine Rafael Albrecht get sent off and suspended for the next match. The 1990 FIFA World Cup Final saw two Argentine players get sent off and West Germany won
2014 FIFA World Cup Final the Argentina–Belgium quarter-final. He had previously taken charge of the 2010 UEFA Europa League Final and the 2013 UEFA Champions League Final. He was also one of the referees at the 2011 FIFA Club World Cup, UEFA Euro 2012 and the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup. He became the third Italian referee to take charge of a World Cup final, after Sergio Gonella in 1978 and Pierluigi Collina in 2002. Both teams named unchanged starting line-ups from their semi-finals, but German midfielder Sami Khedira withdrew during the warm-up with a calf injury. He was replaced by Christoph Kramer, who had