On Sunday 17 May 2026, at 4.30 pm, FC Lugano will host FC Basel 1893 on matchday 38, the final day of the 2025/26 Brack Super League season. It will be a decisive match for the league table and also a day destined to go down in the Club’s history: the match against the Rhinelanders will in fact be the last ever match at the Stadio di Cornaredo before the move to the new AIL Arena from the 2026/27 season.
Lugano go into the final matchday following a 2-2 draw secured on Thursday afternoon in Sion, a tough and intense match in which the bianconeri managed to hold on to the result until the very end. Papadopoulos’s goal in the 90th minute prevented the Valais side from overtaking them in the table and allowed Mattia Croci-Torti’s team to keep their fate in their own hands.
The value of that draw therefore goes beyond the single point. At the Tourbillon, against a side brimming with confidence and backed by their home crowd, Lugano showed real character at the most crucial moment: “We couldn’t let Sion go ahead of us,” Croci-Torti emphasised after the match, “because we want our fate in our own hands. Our fate now lies at Cornaredo, with our fans, for the final match in our great stadium.”
THIRD PLACE TO DEFEND
The table remains wide open. Lugano go into the final matchday two points clear of fourth-placed Sion, with the chance to seal the deal without needing to look at other results. A win against Basel would allow the Bianconeri to secure third place and end the season on a high.
If not, attention will also turn to Bern, where Sion will visit Young Boys. Everything therefore remains to be decided in the final 90 minutes of the season, in a finale brimming with tension and excitement.
Opposing them will be a fascinating opponent in the form of Stephan Lichtsteiner’s FC Basel 1893. After winning the double last season, the Rhinelanders have not had a campaign in line with their ambitions and currently sit in fifth place, with no mathematical chance of qualifying for European competition.
The league table, however, does not make the match any less tricky. On the contrary, a team with nothing to lose can play with greater freedom, looking to end the season with a strong performance. Croci-Torti put it clearly after the draw in Sion: ‘Sometimes when you have nothing to lose, when you have no worries, you can produce your best performances. But we have strong motivations; we need to have a fire inside us that they don’t have.”
It is precisely that motivation that will have to make the difference. For Lugano, the match against Basel will not only be the last of the season, but the moment to give it their all: clarity, intensity, character and an awareness of the importance of a day that combines the league table with history.
THE FINAL DANCE
Mattia Croci-Torti’s call is directed at the entire bianconeri family. The team will need the energy of its supporters, not only to defend third place, but also to bid farewell to Cornaredo in the finest possible way: together, with intensity and with the sense of bianconeri belonging that has accompanied the Club throughout all these years.
“We must honour this stadium to the best of our ability, a place where I have spent so many years and where generations of fans have sung and supported this team. We have reached the final dance. We need everyone; they must carry us forward,” declared the manager.
The final 90 minutes lie ahead, awaiting Lugano. With a position to defend, a prestigious opponent to face and a home ground to bid farewell to. Cornaredo is set to host its very last match: it is up to the bianconeri on the pitch and the fans in the stands to make it a day to remember.