UEFA Euro 2024

The 2024 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly called UEFA Euro 2024 or Euro 2024, was the 17th edition of the UEFA European Championship. This event is a big international football competition for European men's national teams, organized by UEFA. It took place in Germany from June 14 to July 14, 2024.

This tournament had 24 teams, including Georgia, which was playing in the European Championship for the first time. Germany hosted the event for the third time, and it was the second time in reunified Germany. Before, West Germany hosted the 1988 tournament, and some matches of Euro 2020 were held in Munich. This was also the first time the competition was held in what was formerly East Germany, with Leipzig as one of the host cities.

Italy were the defending champions from the 2020 final but were eliminated by Switzerland in the round of 16. Germany, as the host nation, was eliminated by Spain in the quarter-finals. Spain won the tournament for a record fourth time, defeating England 2–1 in the final.

Host selection

On March 8, 2017, UEFA said that two countries, Germany and Turkey, wanted to host the UEFA Euro 2024 tournament. The host was chosen by the UEFA Executive Committee in a secret vote on September 27, 2018, in Nyon, Switzerland. Germany was chosen to host the tournament.

Venues

Germany had many big stadiums for the UEFA Euro 2024 matches. The biggest was the Olympiastadion in Berlin, where the final match was played. It also hosted some early matches.

Nine stadiums from the 2006 FIFA World Cup were used again in cities like Berlin, Dortmund, Munich, and Cologne. Düsseldorf was the only new stadium. During the games, most stadiums had different names because of sponsorship rules.

Team base camps

Each team stayed in a special place called a "team base camp" during the tournament. They trained and lived there between matches. These camps were in Germany.

Ticketing

Fans could buy tickets from UEFA’s website or through their country’s football teams. Ticket sales started on October 3, 2023. There were tickets for all the matches, from group games to the final. Many fans from around the world wanted tickets.

Qualification

As the host country, Germany did not need to qualify for the tournament. The other 23 teams had to go through a qualifying tournament. Twenty of these spots went to the top teams in ten groups, and the last three spots were decided by play-offs. Teams that did well in the 2022–23 UEFA Nations League but didn’t get a spot in the main qualifying rounds could still try for one of the play-off spots. The draw to decide the groups happened on 9 October 2022 at the Festhalle in Frankfurt. The group stage of qualifying happened between March and November 2023, and the play-offs took place in March 2024.

Qualified teams

Out of the 24 teams that made it to the tournament, 19 had been there for the last one. This included the champions Italy and the runners-up England, as well as 2022 World Cup runners-up France and bronze medalist Croatia. Portugal was the only team to go through the whole qualifying process without losing a game. Other teams that didn’t lose any games were France, England, Belgium, Hungary, and Romania.

Albania and Romania were back after missing the last tournament in 2020. Serbia and Slovenia also returned for the first time since 2000. Georgia made it for the very first time by beating Greece in a play-off. This was a big moment because it was Georgia’s first-ever appearance in a big tournament since they became independent from the Soviet Union in 1991.

Some teams that didn’t make it this time were Sweden, Russia, and Wales. Sweden hadn’t been to a final tournament since 1996 and also missed the 2022 World Cup. Wales lost a play-off to Poland. Both North Macedonia and Finland, who were in the last tournament, didn’t qualify this time.

Disqualification of Russia

At a meeting in Hvar, Croatia, on 20 September 2022, it was decided that Russia would not be allowed to take part in the qualifying for Euro 2024. This was because of their country’s actions in Ukraine.

Final draw

The final tournament draw took place on December 2, 2023, at 6:00 PM CET in the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg. Teams were placed into groups based on how they did in the qualifying matches. Germany, as the host country, was put in the first group automatically. Some teams in the draw were not yet known because they still had to win play-off matches in March 2024.

• Pot 1: Germany (Host), group winners ranked 1–5
• Pot 2: Group winners ranked 6–10, group runner-up ranked 1 (6–11 overall)
• Pot 3: Group runners-up ranked 2–7 (12–17 overall)
• Pot 4: Group runners-up ranked 8–10 (18–20 overall), play-off winners A–C (identity unknown at the time of the draw)

Seeding

Draw

Squads

In the UEFA Euro 2024 tournament, teams could have more players than before. Instead of the usual 23 players, each team could choose up to 26 players. Teams had to give their list of players by June 7. The list needed to have at least 23 players but could have up to 26.

Match officials

In April 2024, 19 referee teams were picked to manage the 51 matches at the tournament. This included a team from Argentina because of a partnership between UEFA and CONMEBOL.

UEFA also chose twenty video match officials and twelve support match officials to help during the games.

Group stage

The UEFA Euro 2024 started on May 10, 2022, when the schedule was announced. Kick-off times for the opening match, semi-finals, and final were set then. All other times were confirmed on December 2, 2023.

Teams that won their groups, came in second, or were among the best four third-placed teams moved to the round of 16. All times are local time, called CEST (Central European Summer Time), which is two hours ahead of UTC.

Tiebreakers

If teams had the same points after group matches, their rankings were decided like this:

1. Points from matches between the tied teams.
2. Goal difference from matches between the tied teams.
3. Goals scored in matches between the tied teams.
4. If still tied, steps 1 to 3 were used again for the still-tied teams.
5. Goal difference in all group matches.
6. Goals scored in all group matches.
7. Fewer points from yellow or red cards.
8. Position in the European Qualifiers rankings, or a draw if needed.

If two teams were tied on the last match day and played each other, and the match ended in a draw with no other teams tied, their final ranking was decided by a penalty shoot-out.

Group A

Group B

Group C

Group D

Group E

Group F

Ranking of third-placed teams

Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Wins; 5) Lower disciplinary points total; 6) European Qualifiers overall ranking (or drawing of lots, if hosts Germany had been involved in the tiebreaker).
Notes:

Knockout stage

In the knockout stage of the UEFA Euro 2024, if a game was tied after normal time, extra time with two 15-minute periods was played. If it was still tied, the match was decided by a penalty shoot-out.

Unlike earlier tournaments since 1984, there was no third-place play-off this time. All times are listed in Central European Summer Time (UTC+2).

Bracket

Round of 16

29 June 2024 (2024-06-29)

18:00

Olympiastadion, Berlin

Attendance: 68,172

Referee: Szymon Marciniak (Poland)

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29 June 2024 (2024-06-29)

21:00

Westfalenstadion, Dortmund

Attendance: 61,612

Referee: Michael Oliver (England)

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30 June 2024 (2024-06-30)

18:00

Arena AufSchalke, Gelsenkirchen

Attendance: 47,244

Referee: Halil Umut Meler (Turkey)

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30 June 2024 (2024-06-30)

21:00

RheinEnergieStadion, Cologne

Attendance: 42,233

Referee: François Letexier (France)

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1 July 2024 (2024-07-01)

18:00

Merkur Spiel-Arena, Düsseldorf

Attendance: 46,810

Referee: Glenn Nyberg (Sweden)

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1 July 2024 (2024-07-01)

21:00

Waldstadion, Frankfurt

Attendance: 46,576

Referee: Daniele Orsato (Italy)

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2 July 2024 (2024-07-02)

18:00

Allianz Arena, Munich

Attendance: 65,012

Referee: Felix Zwayer (Germany)

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2 July 2024 (2024-07-02)

21:00

Red Bull Arena, Leipzig

Attendance: 38,305

Referee: Artur Soares Dias (Portugal)

Quarter-finals

5 July 2024 (2024-07-05)

18:00

MHPArena, Stuttgart

Attendance: 54,000

Referee: Anthony Taylor (England)

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5 July 2024 (2024-07-05)

21:00

Volksparkstadion, Hamburg

Attendance: 47,789

Referee: Michael Oliver (England)

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6 July 2024 (2024-07-06)

18:00

Merkur Spiel-Arena, Düsseldorf

Attendance: 46,907

Referee: Daniele Orsato (Italy)

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6 July 2024 (2024-07-06)

21:00

Olympiastadion, Berlin

Attendance: 70,091

Referee: Clément Turpin (France)

Semi-finals

9 July 2024 (2024-07-09)

21:00

Allianz Arena, Munich

Attendance: 62,042

Referee: Slavko Vinčić (Slovenia)

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10 July 2024 (2024-07-10)

21:00

Westfalenstadion, Dortmund

Attendance: 60,926

Referee: Felix Zwayer (Germany)

Final

14 July 2024 (2024-07-14)

21:00

Olympiastadion, Berlin

Attendance: 65,600

Referee: François Letexier (France)

Statistics

The UEFA Euro 2024 was a big soccer event where 24 teams played. Germany hosted it from June 14 to July 14, 2024. Georgia joined for the first time.

There were many goals scored in 51 matches. Six players scored three goals each: Harry Kane, Georges Mikautadze, Jamal Musiala, Cody Gakpo, Dani Olmo, and Ivan Schranz. Spain won the tournament. Lamine Yamal, a very young player, did well and scored an impressive goal.

Marketing

The official logo for UEFA Euro 2024 was shown on October 5, 2021, at the Olympiastadion in Berlin. The logo showed the Henri Delaunay Trophy with 24 colored slices, each standing for one of the teams in the tournament. The design also looked like the Olympiastadion and the flags of all UEFA member nations.

Each host city had its own special logo showing famous local landmarks. The tournament’s slogan was “United by Football,” meaning “United in the heart of Europe.” This message celebrated unity and togetherness. A special video game update for UEFA Euro 2024 was released in June 2024, letting players enjoy the full tournament. Official songs, stickers, and cards were also made for fans to enjoy. The tournament used new ways to show sponsor ads, including special packs for different countries.

Symbols

Mascot

The official mascot for the UEFA Euro 2024 was shown on June 20, 2023, during a friendly game between Germany and Colombia in Gelsenkirchen. The mascot was a teddy bear wearing shorts. People voted to choose the mascot’s name from four choices, and “Albärt” won. The name was announced on July 5.

There was also an unofficial animal oracle, Bubi the Elephant, who “predicted” Germany’s first game against Scotland by kicking a ball.

Match ball

The official match ball for the tournament, called “Fussballliebe,” was shown by UEFA and Adidas on November 15, 2023. “Fussballliebe” means “football love” in German. The ball had black wing shapes with red, blue, orange, and green edges. It was made from sustainable materials and had special technology to help referees make better decisions.

Controversies and incidents

Pitch invasions, thrown projectiles, and other interference

During the game between Turkey and Portugal, some fans ran onto the field. They wanted to take pictures with a famous player. This happened in other games too. Some fans threw cups and other things onto the field. This worried the players. In one game, a bright light was shone in a player's eye.

Barnabás Varga injury

In a match between Scotland and Hungary, a Hungarian player bumped into the Scottish goalkeeper and got hurt. Doctors came to help right away. The player got better after having surgery.

Balkan incidents

Some fans from Balkan countries showed maps and symbols that upset other teams. This led to fines for some teams and bans for some people.

Merih Demiral celebration

After scoring a goal, a Turkish player made a hand sign that is not allowed in some countries. This led to criticism, and the player was banned.

Top Coffee bombing

On the day of the Euro 2024 final, a bombing happened in Somalia. People were watching the match there. Sadly, many people were hurt or died.

Spanish celebrations

After winning the final, some Spanish players made chants that upset people from Gibraltar. This led to penalties for the players.

Referee performance in the quarter-final Germany – Spain

The referee's decisions in the Germany versus Spain quarter-final match were talked about a lot. Some people thought different calls should have been made.