The top two teams of the 2015–16 Football League Championship season gained automatic promotion to the Premier League, while the teams placed from third to sixth place in the table partook in play-off semi-finals; Hull City ended the season in fourth position while Sheffield Wednesday finished sixth.

It was Hull's first game at Wembley since losing the 2014 FA Cup Final and marked their return to the Premier League for the first time since their relegation in the 2014–15 season.

[7] Hull had been relegated from the Premier League in the 2014–15 season and were aiming to return to the top tier of English football at the first attempt.

Sheffield Wednesday manager Carlos Carvalhal made one change, bringing in Sam Hutchinson to replace Álex López in midfield.

[17][18] Hull City were allocated 38,956 tickets for the final,[19] but failed to sell them all due to supporter segregation and an ongoing boycott against the Allam family ownership from many fans.

The first shot on goal came in the 4th minute from Hull's Tom Huddlestone whose strike was saved by the Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper Keiren Westwood.

After a late challenge on Forestieri, the Wednesday striker took the free kick himself, Jakupović punched it over the bar, which the former Leicester City player Steve Claridge described as "awful, dreadful".

In the 29th minute, Westwood conceded a corner to Hull and from the set piece, Hernández's header was cleared off the line by Wednesday's Lee.

In the 72nd minute, the deadlock was broken – Hull's Diamé struck the ball from outside the Wednesday penalty area, past Westwood, to take a 1–0 lead.

[24] A chance for Sheffield Wednesday was missed after Forestieri's pass failed to find a teammate, and Hull's striker Hernández was then replaced by the Irish midfielder David Meyler.

A foul from Wednesday's defender Daniel Pudil was his last contribution to the match as he was substituted in the 87th minute for the Portuguese striker Lucas João.

With a minute of regular time remaining, Hull made their final change with the goalscorer Diamé substituted for Harry Maguire.

Four minutes of additional time were indicated by the fourth official, and despite a chance for João to equalise, the match ended 1–0, ensuring Hull's return to the Premier League.

"[14] Former Celtic manager Neil Lennon, reporting for BBC Radio 5 Live, stated: "it's the right result, there was a definite gulf in class between the two teams on the day ... credit to Hull – they played the game brilliantly and deserved the win".

[27] Sheffield Wednesday finished the following season in fourth place and qualified for the play-offs where they were eliminated in the semi-finals by Huddersfield Town on penalties.