The 1993 European Cup Winners' Cup final was a football match contested between Parma of Italy and Antwerp of Belgium. The final was held at Wembley Stadium in London, England on 12 May 1993. It was the final match of the 1992âÂÂ93 European Cup Winners' Cup and the 33rd European Cup Winners' Cup final. Parma beat Antwerp 3âÂÂ1 and in doing so became the eighth different Italian team to win a European trophy. Upon the abolition of the competition in 1999, this was the last final where the winners won by more than a goal.
The victory marked ParmaâÂÂs first European trophy in only their second season of European competition. They were the first Italian team to appear in the Cup Winners' Cup final since Sampdoria, who had appeared in 1989 and 1990. Antwerp, meanwhile, made their first-ever appearance in a European final. The most recent Belgian finalist before 1993 had been Anderlecht in 1990, who lost 2âÂÂ0 to Sampdoria after extra time.
As the winners, Parma contested the 1993 European Super Cup against 1992âÂÂ93 UEFA Champions League runners-up Milan, after champions Marseille had been banned from European competition over match-fixing allegations.
This was the last European club tournament final staged at the old Wembley, as it was going to be rebuilt to an all-new stadium.
The 1993 final marked the first meeting between Parma and Antwerp. Both teams were seeking their first piece of European silverware, and it was ParmaâÂÂs first encounter with Belgian opposition. Additionally, neither manager had previously guided a team to a European final.
Wembley Stadium in London had hosted the European Cup Winners' Cup final on one previous occasion: in 1965. Londoners West Ham United won the game by two goals to nil against West German opposition 1860 Munich in front of 97,974 people, the biggest ever attendance at a Cup Winners' Cup final.
Parma opened the scoring in the 10th minute when goalkeeper Stevan Stojanoviàmisjudged a corner that allowed Parma's captain, Lorenzo Minotti to hook the ball home from the left of the penalty area. But Antwerp replied within two minutes, Alex Czerniatynski played a through-ball to Francis Severeyns who shot past the goalkeeper left footed to level the scores. The Italians began to dominate the game and Alessandro Melli headed them 2âÂÂ1 ahead after half an hour after a cross from the right. The game was put beyond Antwerp six minutes from time when Stefano Cuoghi curled a shot past the goalkeeper from inside the area.