The 2024 European Football Championship is just around the corner, as the top European footballing nations flock to Germany to compete in the 17th edition of the major international tournament. But what should we expect from this year’s competition? Who is taking part? How do the group stages work? And what are the odds for the 2024 European Championships? Let’s find out!
Where will it take place?
The 2024 European Championships is set to be hosted by Germany after they beat Turkey in the host selection race back in 2018. Because Germany is such a huge footballing country, with the likes of Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, and Bayer Leverkusen playing in the Bundesliga, they have lots of stadiums above the minimum capacity of 30,000 fans. 10 different cities have been selected to host the matches: Berlin, Munich, Dortmund, Stuttgart, Gelsenkirchen, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Dusseldorf, Cologne, and Leipzig.
When does Euro 2024 start?
The event kickstarts on June 14 and the final will be played on July 14, meaning we have a whole month of European football to enjoy. As is tradition, the host country will kick off proceedings, with Germany vs Scotland being the Euro opener
What are the odds for Euro 2024? – Latest European Championship odds
As the Euros approaches, the odds are starting to take shape. With there only being 24 teams in the competition, you can get odds on every single team going all the way. Although, some are more likely to achieve that feat than others. At the moment, England are the tournament favourites, although there is not much to separate the Three Lions and France. Germany, Portugal, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands and Belgium are also fancied by the bookies ahead of the matches.
Tournament Format – How does Euro 2024 work?
The European Championship is a pretty simple competition to follow. After qualifying, all 24 teams were placed into four seeding pots, depending on how well they performed during qualification. These teams were then drawn into six groups for the group stages.
What are the Euro 2024 Groups?
Group A – Germany, Scotland, Hungary, Switzerland
Group B – Spain, Croatia, Italy, Albania
Group C – Slovenia, Denmark, Serbia, England
Group D – Poland, Netherlands, Austria, France
Group E – Ukraine, Belgium, Slovakia, Romania
Group F – Turkey, Georgia, Portugal, Czech Republic
How does the Euro 2024 Group Stage work?
Each group consists of four teams. A team plays every other team just once during the group stage. For example, England will have three group stage matches against Serbia, Denmark and Slovenia. After all group stage matches are complete, the group winners and group runners-up automatically qualify for the round of 16. However, that only makes 12 teams, so the four best third-placed teams will also advance to the knockouts. The four best are determined by which four third-place teams achieved the highest number of points during the group stages. If there is a tie, qualification for the knockouts will be decided by goal difference, then goals scored, and so on.
Euro 2024 Group Stage Schedule
Group A –
June 14 – Germany vs Scotland
June 15 – Hungary vs Switzerland
June 19 – Germany vs Hungary
June 19 – Scotland vs Switzerland
June 23 – Switzerland vs Germany
June 23 – Scotland vs Hungary
Group B –
June 15 – Spain vs Croatia
June 15 – Italy vs Albania
June 19 – Croatia vs Albania
June 20 – Spain vs Italy
June 24 – Albania vs Spain
June 24 – Croatia vs Italy
Group C –
June 16 – Slovenia vs Denmark
June 16 – Serbia vs England
June 20 – Slovenia vs Serbia
June 20 – Denmark vs England
June 25 – England vs Slovenia
June 25 – Denmark vs Serbia
Group D –
June 16 – Poland vs Netherlands
June 17 – Austria vs France
June 21 – Poland vs Austria
June 21 – Netherlands vs France
June 25 – Netherlands vs Austria
June 25 – France vs Poland
Group E –
June 17 – Romania vs Ukraine
June 17 – Belgium vs Slovakia
June 21 – Slovakia vs Ukraine
June 22 – Belgium vs Romania
June 26 – Slovakia vs Romania
June 26 – Ukraine vs Belgium
Group F –
June 18 – Turkey vs Georgia
June 18 – Portugal vs Czech Republic
June 22 – Georgia vs Czech Republic
June 22 – Turkey vs Portugal
June 26 – Georgia vs Portugal
June 26 – Czech Republic vs Turkey
What is the Euros trophy called?
The trophy for the European Championship is called the Henri Delaunay Cup. This is named after the French Football Federation’s former secretary-general who came up with the idea for the tournament back in 1927. Unfortunately, Henri Delaunay passed away three years before the idea was actually green-lit in 1958, but his name lives on to this day as the inspiration behind the trophy.
How does the Euro 2024 knockouts work?
The knockout rounds start on June 29 and run all the way to the final on July 14. The knockout rounds consist of four rounds, which are made up of 15 matches. The Round of 16 is the first knockout round, followed by the quarter-finals, semi-finals, and the final itself. The rules for the knockouts are simple, whoever scores the most goals in 90 minutes wins the game and advances to the next round. If there is a tie come the final whistle, the game will head to another 30 minutes of extra time. If the scores are still level are 120 minutes of play, then the game will head to the dreaded penalty shootout!
Euro 2024 Knockout Schedule
The schedule for the knockouts is a little more complicated than the group stages, because we don’t know which teams have qualified for the Round of 16 yet. Therefore, it is all hypothetical and we have to refer to teams with numbers rather than names. However, we do know when the games will be played, and which teams could face each other.
Round of 16 –
Match 37 – June 29 – Winner of Group A vs Runner-up of Group C
Match 38 – June 29 – Runner-up of Group A vs Runner-up of Group B
Match 39 – June 30 – Winner of Group B vs Third in Group A, D, E or F
Match 40 – June 30 – Winner of Group C vs Third in Group D, E or F
Match 41 – July 1 – Winner of Group F vs Third in Group A, B, or C
Match 42 – July 1 – Runner-up of Group D vs Runner-up of Group E
Match 43 – July 2 – Winner of Group E vs Third in Group A, B, C, or D
Match 44 – July 2 – Winner of Group D vs Runner-up of Group F
Quarter-finals –
Match 45 – July 5 – Winner of Match 39 vs Winner of Match 37
Match 46 – July 5 – Winner of Match 41 vs Winner of Match 42
Match 47 – July 6 – Winner of Match 40 vs Winner of Match 38
Match 48 – July 6 – Winner of Match 43 vs Winner of Match 44
Semi-finals –
Match 49 – July 9 – Winner of Match 45 vs Winner of Match 46
Match 50 – July 10 – Winner of Match 47 vs Winner of Match 48
Euro 2024 Final –
Match 51 – July 14 – Winner of Match 49 vs Winner of Match 50
Which stadiums are being used at Euro 2024?
Ten stadiums across ten different German cities are being used for Euro 2024, and many of them will be familiar to fans of European football.
Olympiastadion – Berlin
The Olympic Stadium is located in Berlin and has a capacity of 74,461. It is the largest stadium in use for the Euros in Germany this year. It should come as no surprise that the Olympiastadion will be hosting the Euro 2024 final.
Allianz Arena – Munich
The world-famous home of Bayern Munich, the Allianz Arena will be in regular use during the tournament. The Munich-based stadium is arguably the most recognisable stadium on the list and can hold just over 70,000 fans. Germany will open the tournament against Scotland here.
BVB Stadion Dortmund – Dortmund
As the name suggests, this is the regular home of Borussia Dortmund. However, the 65,849-seat stadium will be used for international fixtures this summer, and it is even set to host one of the semi-finals.
Stuttgart Arena – Stuttgart
Having hosted matches at multiple Euro and WC tournaments in the past, the home of VfB Stuttgart is back to welcome 54,906 fans in to watch the games this summer. The quarter-finals of the tournament will be kicked off here and Germany are guaranteed to play at least one fixture at the Stuttgart Arena.
Arena AufSchalke – Gelsenkirchen
The 54,740-seat stadium is the home of FC Schalke 04 and opened in 2001, making it one of the newest stadiums on our list.
Frankfurt Arena – Frankfurt
Opened in 1925, the Frankfurt Arena has received a number of upgrades over the years, including a retractable roof. In the football season, it is used as the home of Eintracht Frankfurt, but will host international fixtures this summer. Germany are guaranteed to play a fixture here against Switzerland.
Volksparkstadion – Hamburg
The home of Hamburger SV, the Volksparkstadion can hold a maximum of 52,245 fans for international fixtures. The stadium will hold group stage matches as well as one of the quarter-finals.
Dusseldorf Arena – Dusseldorf
The home of Bundesliga 2 side, Fortuna Dusseldorf, this arena holds just over 51,000 supporters. The Dusseldorf Arena will play host to one of the Euro 2024 quarter-finals and a number of group stage matches.
Cologne Stadium – Cologne
FC Koln play their home games here during the Bundesliga season, but 49,827 fans will pack in to watch Euro 2024 this summer. The furthest we will see this stadium go is the Round of 16.
Leipzig Stadium – Leipzig
The smallest stadium on the list still holds 42,959 fans and is the home of RB Leipzig in the regular season. The stadium will be used for group stage matches and a Round of 16 game.
How to get tickets for Euro 2024 matches
The tickets first went on sale in October 2023, followed by an additional two releases in December 2023 and March/April 2024. Only fans of qualified nations are able to purchase tickets for the matches in Germany. The closer you get to the tournament itself, the harder it is to find tickets. The best thing to do is keep an eye on the official ticketing portal and keep an eye out for any competitions or giveaways from brands.