All you need to know for the All-Ireland SFC final

The All-Ireland SFC final is almost upon us and it is a battle of the green and gold with Kerry taking on Donegal at Croke Park on Sunday.

The Kingdom have won Sam Maguire 38 times, the last of which came in 2022, and they will be hoping to avenge their 2023 final defeat against Dublin by lifting the trophy on Sunday.

Donegal return to the All-Ireland final 11 years on from their 2014 defeat against the Kingdom in the decider. The Ulster champions will hope to banish that heartbreak by winning the competition for the first time since 2012.

As the big day beckons, BBC Sport brings you the comprehensive guide to all you need to know ahead of the showpiece occasion of the inter-county football season.

The All-Ireland final will be shown live on BBC Two NI, BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website.

Coverage of the match will commence at 15:00 BST, with Sarah Mulkerrins presenting and throw-in set for 15:30.

Our stellar panel will feature three-time All-Star Conor McManus, 2002 All-Ireland winner Oisin McConville and Philly McMahon, an eight-time All-Ireland winner with Dublin.

Mark Sidebottom will have Donegal legend Brendan Devenney and Tyrone three-time All-Ireland winner Owen Mulligan for company at pitchside with Thomas Niblock will provide commentary alongside the legendary Mickey Harte, who lifted Sam three times as Tyrone boss.

The BBC Sport website will provide live text commentary, in-play clips, a match report, highlights and reaction.

Kildare native Brendan Cawley will referee an All-Ireland SFC final for the first time on Sunday.

He also refereed Donegal's Ulster Championship win against Armagh earlier this year.

Yes.

If the match finishes in a draw at full-time, 20 minutes of extra time will be played, consisting of two halves each 10 minutes in duration.

A replay will take place on 9 August if the two sides cannot be separated after extra time.

It has not all been plain sailing for Kerry and Donegal in the All-Ireland series, but both seem to have hit form at the right time ahead of the decider.

In the round robin stage, Kerry enjoyed wins against Roscommon and Cork but suffered a shock 11-point loss against Meath.

As a result, they had to go through a preliminary quarter-final, but the Kingdom recovered to beat Cavan 3-20 to 1-17 with the imperious David Clifford netting a hat-trick.

They then produced a superb second-half display to beat reigning champions Armagh 0-32 to 1-21 in the last eight.

Trailing by five at the break, Kerry devoured Armagh's kick-outs and blasted over 14 unanswered points in a devastating 13-minute spell to canter towards the semi-finals.

Jack O'Connor's side enjoyed a comfortable 1-20 to 0-17 semi-final win against Tyrone, with David Clifford again delivering a stellar performance.

He registered 1-9 as Kerry, as they did against Armagh, dominated the third quarter, hitting nine points without reply to seal a place in the final.

Ulster champions Donegal began their campaign with a surprise 2-17 to 0-20 defeat against Tyrone in Ballybofey.

The Tir Chonaill men led with eight to play, but Tyrone responded to end Jim McGuinness' perfect record as Donegal manager at MacCumhaill Park.

They bounced back to beat Cavan and Mayo to reach the preliminary quarter-finals where they breezed past Louth 2-22 to 0-12 to progress to the quarter-finals.

Their resolve was tested in the last eight by fellow Ulster side Monaghan, as they were forced to overturn a seven-point half-time deficit to reach the semi-finals.

McGuinness' side, who had looked laboured in the first-half after a six-day turnaround from the Louth win, recovered in the second period to out-scoring Monaghan by 1-15 to 0-5 with a goal from Michael Langan in the 44th minute the major turning point that put the Ulster in control.

After a run of nine games in 12 weeks and three games on the spin, Donegal had a much needed two weeks of rest before their last four tie against surprise package Meath.

They were ruthless in their 3-26 to 0-15 victory over the Royals, showing a greater clinical edge as Oisin Gallen, Ciaran Moore and Conor O'Donnell scored second-half goals which put the result beyond doubt.

Sunday's final will be Donegal's 11th championship game this year, the most any side has played in a single season.

The encounters between these two sides through the years have always been fiercely contested and tight to call.

The most recent meeting came in the Allianz Football League earlier this year, with Donegal claiming their first win on Kerry soil in 37 years.

It was a tight game with Donegal triumphing 0-23 to 1-18 at the Fitzgerald Stadium in February.

They played out an enthralling 1-20 to 1-20 draw in the old Super 8s format of the All-Irelands in 2019, with the sides level on 14 occasions throughout the game.

As aforementioned, these two sides met in the 2014 All-Ireland final, which Kerry narrowly won 2-9 to 0-12.

Goals from Paul Geaney and Kieran Donaghy helped Kerry to lead by three in the closing stages, but Donegal were close to forcing a replay as Colm McFadden hit the post in injury-time as the Kingdom held on.

Donegal had beaten Kerry at the quarter-final stage on their way to winning the Sam Maguire in 2012.

McFadden hit 1-6 as they managed to hold off a late Kerry comeback to win 1-12 to 1-10 in Dublin and eventually go on to claim Sam, beating Mayo in the decider.