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With the Qatar World Cup having drawn to a close, the focus for many teams has turned to Euro 2024.
This will see a return to a summer tournament after the anomaly of a winter World Cup. It is also only three years since the last Euros, as Euro 2020 was delayed by a year due to the Covid pandemic.
But where is the tournament and when is it taking place? Here’s what we know so far.
Who will host Euro 2024?
Euro 2024 will be held in Germany, after they fended off a bid from Turkey. This is the first time that the country has hosted the tournament since unification. West Germany hosted the tournament in 1988 and four matches of Euro 2020 were played in Munich. It will be the first time that any Euros matches have been held in the former East Germany, with Leipzig as a host city.
The matches will be played across 10 cities: Berlin, Munich, Dortmund, Gelsenkirchen, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Hamburg, Dusseldorf, Cologne and Leipzig.
When is Euro 2024?
The tournament is scheduled to take place from June 14 to July 14.
- Opening game: June 14, 2024
- Round of 16 starts: June 29
- Quarter-finals start: July 5
- Semi-finals start: July 9
- Final: July 14
How does qualifying work for Euro 2024?
Germany have qualified automatically for the tournament as hosts and Russia are banned from qualifying following their invasion of Ukraine, leaving 23 other qualifying spots available to play for.
The 53 remaining Uefa members have been divided into ten groups, with seven groups containing five teams and three containing six teams. The winners and runners-up from each group qualify for the tournament.
The three remaining teams will be decided through the play-offs. The 12 teams involved in the play-offs are selected based on their performances in the Nations League. The teams will then play in a semi-final and final for a place in the tournament.
When does Euro 2020 qualifying start?
The first matches take place between March 23-25, 2023. The final matchs will take place between November 19-21, 2023.
The play-off semi finals will be on March 21, 2024 and the finals will be on March 26, 2024.
Who will England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland play in qualifying?
England have a demanding group, with a re-run of the Euro 2020 final against Italy taking place. They will also go up against Ukraine and North Macedonia, who qualified for their first ever major tournament at Euro 2020. Malta are the final team in the group.
Wales also have a relatively tough draw, going up against World Cup semi-finalists Croatia, Armenia, – who beat the Republic of Ireland in the Nations League – Turkey and Latvia.
Scotland do not have an easy draw either, as they go up against 2008 and 2012 winners Spain, an Erling Haaland-led Norway, their former bogey team Georgia and Cyprus. Scotland have at least qualified for the play-offs already, having won their Nations League group.
Northern Ireland will play Denmark, Finland, Slovenia, Kazakhstan and San Marino.
The Republic of Ireland will face the hardest challenge of all, with the Netherlands, France, Greece and Gibraltar.
Euro 2024 Qualifying groups
Group A: Cyprus, Georgia, Norway, Scotland, Spain
Group B: France, Gibraltar, Greece, Netherlands, Republic of Ireland
Group C: England, Italy, Malta, North Macedonia, Ukraine
Group D: Armenia, Croatia, Latvia, Turkey, Wales
Group E: Albania, Czechia, Faroe Islands, Moldova, Poland
Group F: Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Estonia, Sweden
Group G: Bulgaria, Hungary, Lithuania, Montenegro, Serbia
Group H: Denmark, Finland, Kazakhstan, Northern Ireland, San Marino, Slovenia
Group I: Andorra, Belarus, Israel, Romania, Switzerland
Group J: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Portugal, Slovakia
Will the UK and Ireland host Euro 2028?
The football associations of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland have announced a joint bid to host Euro 2028 on February 7, 2022.
The Turkish football federation confirmed that it had submitted a bid to host the tournament on March 23, 2022. They have also declared their interest in hosting Euro 2032.
Russia had also announced a bid to host the 2028 or 2032 editions of the tournament despite the Uefa ban on Russian clubs and the Russian national team due to the invasion of Ukraine. Both bids were ruled ineligible by Uefa.
Source:The Telegraph