Armagh and Galway met for the first time in 2001 and have clashed five times since. Almost without exception, drama has followed the games all the way.
Here's a look at those previous clashes.
2001
All-Ireland qualifier: Galway 0-13 Armagh 0-12
For now, until Sunday anyway, the first and undoubtedly most seminal match between the counties with the repercussions indirectly leading to an All-Ireland title for both counties.
For Galway they were more obvious as they cashed in their 'get out of jail' card and went all the way to the Sam Maguire in what was effectively their last hurrah as a serious contender with the county not reaching an All-Ireland semi-final, let alone a final, again until 2018 with lesser lights such as Antrim, Wexford, Westmeath and Tipperary dumping them out of the championship in the meantime.
The Connacht side may have prevailed 0-13 to 0-12 at Croke Park, but so much of the story that day surrounded the Orchard County.
Under the guidance of Brian McAlinden and Brian Canavan, they had lost for the first time in three seasons in Ulster when a youthful Tyrone punished them, but the new qualifier system gave them a shot at redemption.
Ulster pair Down and Monaghan were defeated to get the show on the road, setting up a mouth-watering Saturday afternoon clash with John O’Mahony’s side.
Armagh wanted to arrive at Croke Park for 1.15pm, an hour before throw-in, but as they sat on the bus at their warm-up base at Na Fianna, it became clear their Garda escort wasn’t coming.
Forced to go on, they turned onto Mobhi Road and were swamped in traffic.
"It’s a journey that’s meant to take 20 minutes and then you look out the window and see officials trying to stop cars and you say to yourself, ‘ah for f**k’s sake, is this really happening?" Oisín McConville said.
When they did arrive, they discovered that due to the redevelopment of the Hogan Stand, for the first and only time, they’d have to get changed in cramped dressing rooms at the Canal End.
With no time for a proper warm-up and everything out of sync, Galway took advantage and were 0-12 to 0-05 ahead midway through the second half.
When Diarmaid Marsden kicked Armagh’s sixth score, the applause was muted. Stevie McDonnell was next, then Cathal O’Rourke and when Barry O’Hagan brought them to within a goal, suddenly there was life.
O’Rourke kicked two more frees and O’Hagan tied it up. It was one-way traffic and Galway’s legs were jelly.
Armagh didn’t want extra-time, they wanted a winner, and with seconds left corner-back Justin McNulty spotted movement in the forward line and tried to play it forward only for the big hands of Michael Donnellan to appear and block it down and Galway were away on a counter which ended with Paul Clancy to kick the winner.
When the Armagh bus pulled out of Croke Park that evening, the players knew their managers weren’t surviving and just over a month later, Joe Kernan was appointed, taking the county to their sole Sam Maguire success the following season.
It was Galway who passed the torch to them. After that scare, O’Mahony’s men took care of Cork, Roscommon and Derry before absolutely thrashing Meath in the final, with Trevor Giles missing a penalty for the Royal County and current Galway boss Pádraic Joyce scoring 10 points.
In the final seconds, O’Mahony brought on Alan Kerins, meaning he had played in two All-Ireland finals that season having started in the half-forward line for the hurling final loss to Tipperary.
2013
All-Ireland qualifier: Galway 1-11 Armagh 0-09
By the time Galway and Armagh crossed swords for a second time in the championship arena, their stock had plummeted.
Provincial openers provided harsh realities on the same May afternoon, no more so than at Pearse Stadium.
The full-time score – Mayo 4-16 Galway 0-11 – is enough to make anyone in maroon shudder.
The contest was over by the interval, Cathal Carolan, Enda Varley and Donal Vaughan finding the net for the visitors with red cards for Tribe pair Gareth Bradshaw and Niall Coleman compounding matters after the break in a 17-point loss – "that’s not a serious football team," Joe Brolly said on The Sunday Game afterwards.
Not the result you want, especially with Galway’s horrible qualifier record that had last saw them win in 2004 when they bettered, rather than battered, Louth.
Armagh’s championship campaign didn’t get off to a great start either.
For their trip to Kingspan Breffni, much had been made of the debut of young forward Ciaron O’Hanlon – who had played for St Paul’s in the MacRory Cup final a few weeks earlier – but it would be another youthful attacker would steal the show as Martin Dunne led the Orchard defence on a merry dance.
Both sides got back on the horse in different ways in the qualifiers, Galway digging in against the wind to edge Tipperary and Armagh holding Wicklow to 0-02. They’d hit 8-13 against Leitrim in the next round with Galway just edging Waterford by a point – Michael Meehan with a goal six minutes from time to deny what would have been perhaps their worst-ever result.
It led to Paul Grimley’s side being fair favourites for their trip to Pearse Stadium with a big orange support travelling despite the ridiculous heat.
It wasn’t a day for warm-ups, but Armagh spent an awful lot of time out in the sun while Galway stayed inside, and it seemed to play a part as it was the Tribe who were able to keep their cool when the game began.
Danny Cummins’ 24th-minute goal gave Alan Mulholland’s side the belief and platform required, and although Stefan Campbell rallied Armagh after coming in off the bench, Galway hit four in a row in the second half through Meehan (2), Paul Conroy, always impressive against Armagh, and Gary Sice to earn a place in the fourth round where Cork beat them by a point with Meehan famously drilling a late free to the net.
It would be the last Armagh match without Kieran McGeeney on the sideline with 'Geezer' coming in as head coach in 2014 before taking over in 2015.
2015
All-Ireland qualifier: Galway 1-12 Armagh 0-12
All in all, probably the least dramatic meeting of the two as a pair of middling teams played out a decent match at the Athletic Grounds with Galway deservedly coming out on top.
Armagh had been awful against Wicklow in the previous round, but a couple of late Jamie Clarke goals had put a shine on the scoreboard and home advantage again looked like it could have a big say – even if the Orchard support was middling.
The first half was a score-for-score affair, a youthful Damien Comer cutting through for a fine effort as Paul Conroy, lining out at centre half-forward but operating in the middle, dominating.
It was actually a Conroy effort that broke the seal on the game, as his effort at a point from a free dropped short and was slapped to the net by Comer with Danny Cummins quickly following up with an effort from a tight angle before Gary Sice landed a free to leave Galway 1-12 to 0-08 ahead and cruising.
Or so they thought. Galway wouldn’t score again and Armagh came back at them.
In the 51st minute Mark Shields got their first score of the half and they hit another two before Jamie Clarke headed to goal before hitting the deck. In real-time it looked a penalty, but replays showed David Gough was spot on not to award the spot-kick and Kevin Walsh’s side held on.
The Connacht outfit beat Derry in the third round of qualifiers, but their campaign emphatically came to an end against Donegal.
2022
All-Ireland quarter-final: Galway 2-21 Armagh 3-18 (Galway win 4-1 on penalties)
One of the most manic games of football ever played – it even has its own Wikipedia page - and when all was said and done Galway were into an All-Ireland semi-final after a penalty shoot-out win. The law of averages meant Armagh would win the next one, or the one after, or the one after that, right?
Kieran McGeeney’s men, with a phenomenal support behind them, started brightly and were by far the better team in the first half, but Galway hit the last three scores of the half and it was 0-07 to 0-07 at the turn.
Drawing despite playing badly, Galway lifted things in the second half.
Johnny Heaney’s goal gave them breathing room, and they moved six points clear when Greg McCabe was dismissed.
That was a lead they held in the 72nd minute and everyone in the stadium was playing out time – apart from the Armagh players.
First Aidan Nugent palmed home before Comer seemed to cut the comeback short with a score.
Eight additional minutes had been added though and after another scramble, Conor Turbitt side-footed to the net to bring it back to a point.
Then, with the final kick of normal time, Rian O’Neill landed a free kick from a ridiculous distance to force extra-time.
Before that though, an almighty row broke out as the two sides tried to make it down the steps into the Cusack Stand changing rooms, placing a major black mark on a thrilling day.
On the restart, captains Nugent and Seán Kelly were sent off, sacrificial lambs more than guilty parties and the two teams resumed battle and produced another epic 20 minutes with penalties ultimately being required.
There, Galway won 4-1 with Shane Walsh, Damien Comer, Rob Finnerty and Matthew Tierney all converting.
A number of suspensions were dished out afterwards, most notably Armagh player Tiernan Kelly who accepted a six-month ban for an alleged eye gouge on Damien Comer.
2023
All-Ireland round-robin: Armagh 0-16 Galway 1-12
Ten years on from the scorching heat in Salthill, it was thunder and lightning and almighty downpours at the end of this crucial All-Ireland round-robin game in Carrick-on-Shannon.
Once again, there was plenty of drama on offer, as seems to be the case when these two counties meet.
The spotlight was undoubtedly on Kieran McGeeney with question marks over his side after they let the Ulster slip with another penalty shootout loss, this time to a Derry side rocked by Rory Gallagher’s departure days before following serious allegations regarding his private life.
After an even opening, Galway had a chance to steal a march, but Ethan Rafferty saved Shane Walsh’s penalty. Rafferty was beaten soon after though as Seán Kelly broke forward and finished coolly to the net.
Armagh responded well after the break with scores from Lurgan trio Andrew Murnin, Conor Turbitt and Stefan Campbell to take the lead and it was score for score from there.
Rory Grugan thought he had won it late on with a free, but Galway were handed a chance to level things with their own free – and top the group in the process – but Shane Walsh’s effort tailed away.
2024
All-Ireland round-robin: Armagh 1-12 Galway 0-15
How Galway didn’t win this match is anyone’s guess as they were utterly dominant for so long at Markievicz Park.
Even in their warm-up, Armagh had a worrying lack of intensity and they carried that into the game with Galway’s defensive set-up proving far too sturdy to break down.
Despite playing against the breeze, Galway led 0-08 to 0-06 at the break and were full value for it as the Ulster side missed a serious of shots from around the ‘D’.
With Paul Conroy providing his usual tour de force display against Armagh and Pádraic Joyce’s side showing a commendable amount of patience on the ball, the third quarter provided little evidence other than a comfortable Galway win.
They led 0-13 to 0-08 after 54 minutes and it took a super Aaron McKay block to keep it to five points, crucial in the end up.
The game changed on a poor kick-out by Connor Gleeson which was intercepted by Conor Turbitt and finished to the net by his Clann Eireann club-mate Tiernan Kelly.
It was game on then, but it looked like Galway’s day when Shane Walsh pointed a controversial free awarded by Sean Hurson, this Sunday’s man in the mieddle, until Stefan Campell raced through and fisted over to secure the draw.
That point was enough to earn Armagh top spot in the group. Joyce texted Kieran McGeeney afterwards and said we’ll see you in the final – and so it came to pass.
Watch the All-Ireland Football Championship final, Armagh v Galway, on Sunday from 2.15pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app and listen to commentary on RTÉ Radio 1
