Philly McMahon
Eight-time All-Ireland winner with Dublin on BBC Sport

Paudie Clifford was key the last day, he pushed the ball and got Kerry higher.

If I was Mayo, I would stay compact and when he gets into certain zones, get a man to lock on.

Matt Gault
BBC Sport NI at Croke Park

An enormous roar as Kobe McDonald's name is read out.

The darling of the Mayo faithful.

Image source, Getty Images

David Mohan
BBC Sport NI at Croke Park

Kerry were first out onto the pitch and almost nonchalantly trotted onto the field before a quick photo and straight into the warm-up.

Mayo were out a few minutes later and burst out from under the Hogan Stand, the body language of a team pumped up and ready for action.

Oisin McConville
Armagh All-Ireland winner on BBC Sport NI

Kerry are going to open up chances for Mayo, and they have to take them.

Kerry will probably be tipped as favourites still, but I give Mayo a real chance.

The late team news includes changes for both sides.

For Kerry, Tom O'Sullivan replaces Diarmuid O'Connor at left wing-forward. O'Connor is out of the matchday panel, replaced by Cillian Trant.

Two changes for Mayo see Paul Towey and Diarmuid O'Connor come in for Stephen Coen and Conor Loftus. Coen is out altogether so John McGonagle wears 10 on the bench.

Paul Geaney is fit for a place on the bench having missed out on the semi-final with the luckless Tony Brosnan ruled out.

Kerry: Shane Murphy; Paul Murphy, Jason Foley, Dylan Casey; Graham O'Sullivan, Mike Breen, Gavin White; Mark O'Shea, Sean O'Brien; Joe O'Connor, Sean O'Shea, Tom O'Sullivan; Paudie Clifford, David Clifford, Dylan Geaney.

Subs: Shane Ryan, Evan Looney, Tomas Kennedy, Keith Evans, Paul Geaney (capt), Armin Heinrich, Brian O Beaglaoich, Tadhg Morley, Micheal Burns, Tom O'Sullivan, Killian Spillane, Cillain Trant.

Mayo: Jack Livingstone; Jack Coyne (capt), Donnacha McHugh, Eoin McGreal; Sam Callinan, David McBrien, Enda Hession; Bob Tuohy, Jack Carney; Paul Towey, Diarmuid O'Connor, Jordan Flynn; Darragh Beirne, Ryan O'Donoghue, Kobe McDonald.

Subs: Rob Hennelly, Fenton Kelly, Paddy Durcan, Rory Brickenden, Conal Dawson, Aidan O'Shea, Mattie Ruane, Paul Towey, Diarmuid O'Connor, Tommy Conroy, Cian McHale, John McMonagle.

Image source, BBC Sport

Philly McMahon
Eight-time All-Ireland winner with Dublin on BBC Sport

I don't think the game will be won or lost in the first half. I think Mayo will want to keep it tight but if it is to open up, it will be in the third quarter.

This season has been bonkers; it wouldn't surprise me if there was a big upset.

There are plenty of fascinating statistics heading into today's All-Ireland final.

Kerry are chasing a record-extending 40th title and have reached the decider despite suffering a 10-point defeat to Donegal earlier in the championship.

Jack O'Connor's side have also landed 22 two-pointers, while David Clifford leads this year's championship scoring charts with 6-44 (62).

Mayo's journey has been equally remarkable.

Andy Moran's men are the first county to reach an All-Ireland final after losing two championship matches in the same season and have relied heavily on the new two-point arc, with 28 two-pointers accounting for 32% of their total score - the highest proportion of any team competing for Sam Maguire.

Ryan O'Donoghue has amassed 2-51 (57) this summer, second only to Clifford, as Mayo bid to end a 75-year wait for All-Ireland glory.

Philly McMahon
Eight-time All-Ireland winner with Dublin on BBC Sport

The one thing I'd go after if I was facing Mayo is their high press. That stands out compared to most counties.

They're high pressing the kick-out and that is hard to come out against as a defence and it's fatiguing, but it's also fatiguing from Mayo's point of view. It might not give them the opportunities they got against Louth [in the semi-final].

Oisin McConville
Armagh All-Ireland winner on BBC Sport NI

When Mayo came to All-Irelands in the 2010s I always felt they would compete everywhere apart from the scoreboard.

Now, I think the opposite as they have an average of 17 points per game in the full-forward line and if they can do that, they've a brilliant chance of winning the game but I'm questioning if they are going to be good enough around the middle and defensively.

Philly McMahon
Eight-time All-Ireland winner with Dublin on BBC Sport

Eight-time All-Ireland winner Philly McMahon feels it is vital Mayo "rehearse adversity" in the build-up to Sunday's All-Ireland SFC final against defending champions Kerry.

Andy Moran's side enter the game as outsiders to secure the county's first Sam Maguire success since 1951 and banish the memory of 11 consecutive losses on Gaelic football's biggest day.

Some of those defeats have been chastening, while others have come by the narrowest of margins, so to end that unwanted run, McMahon believes it is crucial they have a plan in place for the moments that don't go their way this weekend.

The former Dublin defender, who will be part of the BBC punditry team this weekend, notes that Kerry's know-how in finals gives them a huge advantage and overcoming adversity coupled with genuine belief is crucial if Mayo are to get over the hump.

"Mayo need to ask themselves what are the things that could happen we don't want to happen, so let's train for that and 80 percent of what we do will win us the game," he said on The GAA Social.

"Louth, I would say, did not do any 'rehearse adversity' [in the 17-point semi-final defeat] because they just let it snowball or anything to trigger the team to do something structurally different.

"You address the elephant in the room that 'yes, we're not great at winning All-Irelands' but I'm sure that was done a long time ago because they have got there and now it's about focusing all the attention on what they can do on the day.

"Mayo are in a good place, are progressing in a good first year under Andy Moran, but if Kerry hit a purple patch, will they fall into a default of 'we've had a great year and got to an All-Ireland final' or will they fight back and go to win an All-Ireland?"

Image source, Getty Images

Perhaps it's a measure of the lofty standards David Clifford has set, but in what was considered a quiet day for the Kerry forward in their All-Ireland semi-final win over Dublin, he still finished with 1-5 to his name.

Ever since making the Gaelic football world sit up and take notice as a teenager with 2-5 in a 2016 Hogan Cup [All-Ireland schools] final for St Brendan's, Killarney and 4-4 later that year in the All-Ireland minor final for the Kingdom, the spotlight has rarely strayed from the Fossa man.

With that focus brings pressure, but Clifford - now in his ninth year with Kerry's senior team - has consistently delivered, helping the Kingdom to two All-Ireland titles, two further final appearances, eight Munster Championships, two league titles with six All-Star awards collected along the way.

Heading into Sunday's final against Mayo, he leads the 2026 championship scoring charts with 6-44 to his name with just 13 points coming from frees, adding further weight to the argument made by those who consider him the greatest of all time.

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Matt Gault
BBC Sport NI at Croke Park

Image source, Getty Images

While Andy Moran has moulded an impressive team in his first season at the Mayo helm, teenage tyro Kobe McDonald has undoubtedly been the breakout star.

The Crossmolina club-man, who will leave behind his burgeoning inter-county career for a stint with Australian Football League side St Kilda later this year, will join an exclusive club of teenagers who have started an All-Ireland Football final.

The son of Mayo great Ciaran McDonald, Kobe does not turn 19 until December. Today will be just his seventh senior championship start.

He has scored 1-25 in the previous six, but firing Mayo to a first Sam Maguire in three-quarters of a century would attach an almost mythical status to the teenager before he packs his bags.

McDonald, of course, is not the only sharpshooter in the full-forward line. Fellow rookie Darragh Beirne, 20, has scored 2-15 in five championship outings, while Ryan O'Donoghue has hit 2-51 on Mayo's run to the final.

Mayo will need a herculean effort from the lads at the other end of the field, but McDonald, Beirne and O'Donoghue's form will be crucial to their chances.

Oisin McConville
Armagh All-Ireland winner on BBC Sport NI

Image source, Inpho

Jason Foley, for me, is the most in-form in defender in the country. He's been unbelievable and has probably flown under the radar a little bit.

He'll be able to hold one of the Mayo forwards and it'll be up to one of Mayo's supporting cast to dig them out.

Image source, Inpho

While Kerry manager Jack O'Connor suggested Mayo produced the more "impressive" semi-final display, he feels his side's greater "experience" can help them to back-to-back All-Ireland Senior Football Championship titles.

Kerry are bidding to retain Sam Maguire for the first time since 2007 and secure a 40th title overall when they take on Andy Moran's side who have built steadily throughout the campaign.

"We will have to come on because if you are judging the two teams, Mayo were more impressive than we were," O'Connor - who had led Kerry to five titles over three spells as manager - said of the respective semi-final displays.

"We will have our hands full with that elusive forward line they have, those young lads like Beirne, Kobe and they have various scoring threats. Ryan O'Donoghue was sensational [in the semi-final] so we have a lot of improving to do.

"The thing in our favour as we have a bit more experience than some of their younger players, but the exuberance of youth, they might come and shoot the lights out.

"It will make for a great occasion; Mayo are great supporters and Andy Moran has done some job along with Paddy Tally and the boys there in their first year, so we're expecting a massive battle."

David Mohan
BBC Sport NI at Croke Park

Image source, Inpho

This year's jubilee team is the 2001 All-Ireland Galway side that beat Meath in the final 25 years ago.

It's a bittersweet day following the passing of Paul Clancy last month with his son Finn representing his late father, receiving a rapturous reception around Croke Park.

Also remembered is the late John O'Mahony who managed Galway to that year's title and also in 1998.

Image source, Inpho

Today's referee is Martin McNally, who is set to be the man in the middle on All-Ireland SFC final day for the first time.

The Monaghan man hails from the Corduff club and this season, has presided over five games in this year's championship including Louth v Wexford and Kildare v Westmeath in Leinster, while in the All-Ireland series, he has taken charge of Armagh v Derry, Dublin v Donegal and Mayo v Cork.

It's his first senior final, but has refereed the 2023 U20 decider, plus the 2024 Ulster final and Leinster finals in 2021 and 2025.