Euro 2024 start date, groups and all you need to know

• The UEFA European Championship will kick-off later this month in Germany
• The group stages will begin on Friday, 14 June and run for twelve days
• The final of the Euros will be played on 14 July at Olympiastadion Berlin

With the UEFA Champions League final played, the football world will now be focusing in the upcoming Euro 2024 tournament.

For starters, the UEFA European Championship will kick-off later this month in Germany. The one-month event will see Europe’s top footballing nations compete for the coveted trophy in various arenas. This means that we will be seeing the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappe and Virgil van Dijk, among others back in action soon.

With that introduction, let’s bring you all the info you need to know about Euro 2024.

The Euros tournament is a one-month event. Photo/ Sky Sports.

When Does Euro 2024 Start?

This year’s European Championship will begin on Friday 14 June, with Germany facing Scotland. Similar to the previous Euros events and major tournaments in the football world, the event kicks off with the group stages which will run for 12 days.

The knockouts will be played from 30 June to July 10 when the semi-finals will be played. The final of the Euros will be played on 14 July at Olympiastadion Berlin, which is a five-star stadium.

Which Country Is Hosting The Euros Tournament? 

As hinted at the start of this article, Germany are the hosts and occupy position A1, which means they play the opening match. They were chosen as the hosts at a UEFA Executive Committee meeting which took place back in September 2018 in Nyon. The other nation that made a bid to host the Euros was Turkey.

West Germany/ Germany have featured at every Euro tournament since 1972 and have been crowned champions three times (1972, 1980, 1996). West Germany hosted the 1988 edition of the tournament but since unification haven’t gotten the chance to be hosts until this year.

How Many Teams Will Be At The Euros?

There will be a total of 24 teams competing at thus year’s Euros tournament. All the teams booked their spots after competing in the qualifiers.

Below are all the teams and the groups they are in:

Group A – Germany, Hungary, Scotland, Switzerland

Group B- Albania, Croatia, Italy, Spain

Group C – Denmark, England, Serbia, Slovenia

Group D – Austria, France, Netherlands, Poland

Group E – Belgium, Romania, Slovenia, Ukraine

Group F – Czech Republic, Georgia, Portugal, Turkey

Format And Fixtures For The Euros

Euro 2024 follows the format we’re used to. The top two teams from the group stages get direct tickets to the round of 16 where they will be joined by the four best third-placed finishers. The teams will then play one-leg knockout whereby the winner will advance to the quarter-finals. The semi-finals will see four teams fight for a spot in the final of one of the biggest events in this year’s football calendar.

Below are the fixtures for all group stage action:

Germany v Scotland (Group A) – Friday, 14 June

Hungary v Switzerland (Group A) – Saturday, 15 June

Spain v Croatia – (Group B) – Saturday, 15 June

Italy v Albania – (Group B) – Saturday, 15 June

Poland v Netherlands (Group D) – Sunday, 16 June

Slovenia v Denmark (Group C) – Sunday, 16 June

Serbia v England (Group C) – Sunday, 16 June

Romania v Ukraine (Group E) – Monday, 17 June

Belgium v Slovakia (Group E) – Monday, 17 June

Austria v France (Group D) – Monday, 17 June

Turkey v Georgia (Group F) – Tuesday, 18 June

Portugal v Czech Republic (Group F) – Tuesday, 18 June

Croatia v Albania (Group B) – Wednesday, 19 June

Germany v Hungary (Group A) – Wednesday, 19 June

Scotland v Switzerland (Group A) – Wednesday, 19 June

Slovenia v Serbia (Group C) – Thursday, 20 June

Denmark v England (Group C) – Thursday, 20 June

Spain v Italy (Group B) – Thursday, 20 June

Slovakia v Ukraine (Group E) – Friday, 21 June

Poland v Austria (Group D) – Friday, 21 June

Netherlands v France (Group D) – Friday, 21 June

Georgia v Czech Republic (Group F) – Saturday, 22 June

Turkey v Portugal (Group F) – Saturday, 22 June

Belgium v Romania (Group E) – Saturday, 22 June

Scotland v Hungary (Group A) – Sunday, 23 June

Switzerland v Germany (Group A) – Sunday, 23 June

Albania v Spain (Group B) – Monday, 24 June

Croatia v Italy (Group B) – Monday, 24 June

France v Poland (Group D) – Tuesday, 25 June

Netherlands v Austria (Group D) – Tuesday, 25 June

Denmark v Serbia (Group C) – Tuesday, 25 June

England v Slovenia (Group C) – Tuesday, 25 June

Slovakia v Romania (Group E) – Wednesday, 26 June

Ukraine v Belgium (Group E) – Wednesday, 26 June

Czech Republic v Turkey (Group F) – Wednesday, 26 June

Georgia v Portugal (Group F) – Wednesday, 26 June

Euro 2024 final will be played at Olympiastadion Berlin. Photo/ TripSavvy.

Conclusion 

Whereas majority of the big names in the football world will be representing their nations at Euro 2024 this summer, there are some notable stars who will be missing. Erling Haaland and Martin Odegaard will not be taking a break from the beautiful game that period as Norway failed to qualify. Sweden also missed out, which means the likes of Alexander Isak will not be on our screens during the tournament.