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 major 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 featured 24 teams, including Georgia, which was making its European Championship debut. Germany hosted the event for the third time, and it was the second time in reunified Germany. Previously, 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 went on to win the tournament for a record fourth time, defeating England 2–1 in the final.

Host selection

On March 8, 2017, UEFA announced 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 selected as the host for the tournament.

Venues

Germany had many big stadiums that could hold lots of fans 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 and other important games.

Nine of the stadiums used for Euro 2024 were also used for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in cities like Berlin, Dortmund, Munich, and Cologne. Düsseldorf was the only new stadium for this tournament. 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 their matches. These camps had to be in Germany.

Ticketing

Fans could buy tickets for the matches from UEFA’s website or through their country’s football teams. Ticket sales began on October 3, 2023. There were almost 2.7 million tickets for the 51 matches. Fans could buy tickets for group matches, round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals, and the final. Many people from around the world applied for tickets, with fans from Turkey, Hungary, England, Albania, and Croatia asking for the most after Germany’s fans. Ticket prices ranged from €30 to €2000.

Qualification

As the host country, Germany was able to join the tournament without needing to qualify. The other 23 teams had to go through a qualifying tournament. Twenty of those 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. Russia wasn’t allowed to take part because of their country’s actions in Ukraine. 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 the actions their country took in Ukraine in February 2022. This meant Russia missed a European Championship for the first time since 2000.

Final draw

The final tournament draw happened on December 2, 2023, at 6:00 PM CET in the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg. Teams were grouped based on their performance in the qualifying matches. Germany, as the host country, was placed 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 were allowed to have more players than before. Instead of the usual 23 players, each team could choose up to 26 players. Teams needed to give their list of players, which had to include at least 23 but could have up to 26, by June 7.

Match officials

In April 2024, 19 refereeing teams were chosen to manage the 51 matches at the tournament. This included a team from Argentina as part of a partnership between UEFA and CONMEBOL.

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

Group stage

The UEFA Euro 2024 tournament schedule was announced on May 10, 2022, with kick-off times set for the opening match, semi-finals, and final. All other match times were confirmed on December 2, 2023, after the draw.

Teams that won their groups, came in second, or were among the best four third-placed teams moved on to the round of 16. All times listed are local time, known as CEST (Central European Summer Time), which is two hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC+2).

Tiebreakers

If teams ended up with the same number of points after their group matches, their rankings were decided using these steps:

1. More points from matches between the tied teams.
2. Better goal difference from matches between the tied teams.
3. More goals scored in matches between the tied teams.
4. If still tied, steps 1 to 3 were used again only for the matches between the still-tied teams.
5. Better goal difference in all group matches.
6. More 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 ended in a tie 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 117 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, and Rodri was named the best player. Lamine Yamal, a very young player, was the best young player and scored a fantastic 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 representing one of the teams in the tournament. The design also reflected the shape of 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, allowing players to enjoy the full tournament experience. 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 “Albärt,” “Bärnardo,” “Bärnheart,” and “Herzi von Bär,” all playing on the German word for bear, “Bär.” The name “Albärt” won with 32% of the votes and 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 through a small goal.

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 to show the energy of the teams and the love fans have for football. It was made from sustainable materials and was the first UEFA Euro ball to have “Connected Ball Technology.” This technology uses tiny sensors inside the ball to help referees make better decisions.

Controversies and incidents

Pitch invasions, thrown projectiles, and other interference

During the game between Turkey and Portugal, several fans ran onto the field trying to take pictures with a famous player. Similar interruptions happened in other matches too. Some fans also threw cups and other objects onto the field, which worried players, and one player had a bright light shone in his eye during a game.

Barnabás Varga injury

In a match between Scotland and Hungary, a Hungarian player collided with the Scottish goalkeeper and was hurt. Medical staff quickly arrived to help, and the player later recovered after surgery.

Balkan incidents

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

Merih Demiral celebration

After scoring a goal, a Turkish player made a hand gesture that is linked to far-right groups and is not allowed in some countries. This led to criticism and a ban for the player.

Top Coffee bombing

On the day of the Euro 2024 final, a bombing occurred in Somalia where people were watching the match. Sadly, this resulted in many injuries and deaths.

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 during the Germany versus Spain quarter-final match were debated, with some believing different calls should have been made.