Nicola Rizzoli is an Italian former football referee who refereed in the Italian Serie A from 2002 to 2017 and was a FIFA-listed referee from 2007 to 2017. He refereed the 2014 FIFA World Cup Final between Germany and Argentina on 13 July at the Estádio do Maracanã and the 2013 Champions League Final between Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich at Wembley Stadium. Rizzoli won seven consecutive AIC Serie A Referee of the Year Awards from 2011 to 2017. On 18 February 2017, Soccer 360 included Rizzoli on its list of the top 5 referees in the 21st century.

The 2014 FIFA World Cup final was the final match of the 2014 World Cup, the 20th edition of FIFA's competition for national football teams. The match was played at the Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on 13 July 2014, and was contested by Germany and Argentina. The event comprised hosts Brazil and 31 other teams who emerged from the qualification phase, organised by the six FIFA confederations. The 32 teams competed in a group stage, from which 16 teams qualified for the knockout stage. En route to the final, Germany finished first in Group G, with two wins and a draw, after which they defeated Algeria in the round of 16, France in the quarter-final and Brazil, by a score of 7–1, in the semi-final. Argentina finished first in Group F with three wins, before defeating Switzerland in the round of 16, Belgium in the quarter-final and the Netherlands in a penalty shoot-out in the semi-final. The final was witnessed by 74,738 spectators in the stadium, as well as over a billion watching on television, with the referee for the match being Nicola Rizzoli from Italy.