Neighbours France and Italy, both previous World Cup winners, both known at home as "the blues", meet in Berlin Sunday in the final in a game with a resonance far beyond its sporting dimension.
Few pundits had thought that an ageing French team ("les bleus"), with many survivors from the glorious team of 1998 that won the game's supreme prize in Paris, would go far after its dismal qualifying performance and indifferent showing in early games.
Not many saw eventual victory for the Italians ("gli azzurri") in the light of scandals back home, a team also not in its first youth, and a sometimes patchy exhibition in the early stages of the cup.
But much-fancied Argentina, Brazil, the Czech Republic, Portugal and Spain will not be in Berlin, and the two sets of blues - though France will be in white - will be, to replay the 2000 European Cup final won by France 2-1 with a golden goal in extra time. Much more rides on the final than the trophy to be hoisted before delirious supporters sometime on Sunday night.
For France, whose fans have relived on the road to the final the exuberant, horn-sounding, Champs-Elysees-flocking, chanting night of triumph in 1998, a win would brush aside, even if temporarily, the depression caused by political scandals, riots in housing estates and the loss of the 2012 Olympics.
Zinedine Zidane, the master, better known as Zizou, has regained his place as French icon-in-chief, the conductor of a team in which only three first choices are not of sub-Saharan African, Caribbean or North African origin. Memories of the 1998 team, the black-beur (Arab)-blanc team with its muliticultural promise, have been revived.
Win or lose, it promises to be an emotional night in Paris. Fans will pack cafes with huge television screens. Victory will be celebrated by a spectacular all-night light show at the Eiffel Tower. The world's most-visited monument with six million visitors each year was draped with thousands of light bulbs to celebrate the millennium six years ago.
Currently these flash on and off for 10 minutes each hour during the night. But should Zinedine Zidane and his men triumph in Berlin the huge iron structure will flash its recognition without pause throughout the night until dawn. Police will be out in force on the Champs-Elysees, the traditional gathering point of fans and suburban youths looking for confrontation.
The celebrations after the semi-final win, joyful as they were, provided cautionary incidents - five deaths by accident around the country and more than 200 arrests.
For Italy the stakes are rather different. There the game has been tarnished by bribery scandals and the apparent suicide attempt by a former international, 35-year-old Gianluca Pessotto, who spent 11 years with Juventus before hanging up his boots in May and becoming their team manager.
A prosecutor has recommended relegation for Juventus, AC Milan, Lazio and Fiorentina as punishment for the clubs' suspected involvement in match-fixing.
Thirteen of the Italy squad, none of whom is implicated in the scandal, play for the four accused Serie A clubs and could soon be considering their futures.
Italy's players have been reluctant to talk about the scandals embroiling their clubs but there is no doubt that the investigations have fostered a ferocious sense of purpose amongst the squad. The two sides have played 32 times: Italy leads 17-7 with eight draws: 75 goals for and 44 against.
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