Everyone loves international tournaments, right? It’s a chance to cheer on your own country, watch a silly amount of football every day for a few weeks and see players and teams you don’t normally get a look at.
That’s why there’s so much excitement building around Euro 2024. After the COVID-19 pandemic pushed Euro 2020 back a year and then the winter 2022 World Cup, international tournaments are coming around thick and fast.
It won’t be long before Euro 2024 is underway, so here’s everything you need to know about this summer’s competition.
Euro 2024 will take place in Germany during the summer of 2024 and will run from 14 June to 14 July.
Two countries – Germany and Turkey – announced bids to host Euro 2024 back in 2017 and the Germans took 12 of the 17 votes total.
Hosts Germany qualified automatically as is tradition, which means 23 spots were up for grabs in the Euro 2024 qualifying rounds.
53 nations were divided into ten groups, with seven groups containing five teams and three containing six. Each team played everybody in their group home and away, with the winners and runners-up of each group advancing to the Euro 2024 finals.
There are still three remaining spots that will be decided via the play-offs. These will take place in March 2024 with 12 teams taking part. The teams were selected based on their performance in the 2022/23 Nations League, and, obviously, they couldn’t have already qualified for the finals.
|
Nation |
Qualification route |
|---|---|
|
Germany |
Hosts |
|
Spain |
Group A winner |
|
Scotland |
Group A runner-up |
|
France |
Group B winner |
|
Netherlands |
Group B runner-up |
|
England |
Group C winner |
|
Italy |
Group C runner-up |
|
Turkey |
Group D winner |
|
Croatia |
Group D runner-up |
|
Albania |
Group E winner |
|
Czechia |
Group E runner-up |
|
Belgium |
Group F winner |
|
Austria |
Group F runner-up |
|
Hungary |
Group G winner |
|
Serbia |
Group G runner-up |
|
Denmark |
Group H winner |
|
Slovenia |
Group H runner-up |
|
Romania |
Group I winner |
|
Switzerland |
Group I runner-up |
|
Portugal |
Group J winner |
|
Slovakia |
Group J runner-up |
With three places at the tournament still up for grabs, the March international break will see the Euro 2024 play-offs get underway. Made up of 12 teams, the fixtures have now been announced for which nations will compete against one another.
Six one-off games will decide the teams that make it to three respective play-off finals, with the victors in said finals securing their spot at this summer’s European Championship.
The only home nation involved in the play-offs is Wales, who host Finland in Cardiff on Thursday 21 March.
Euro 2024 play-off fixtures
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