2024-06-11

Euro 2024: All You Need To Know

The 2024 European Championships are upon us and it is time for a festival of football featuring the best the continent has to offer.

Defending champions Italy will be striving to make it back-to-back titles. Meanwhile losing finalists from 2020 England are searching for their first major tournament success since the 1966 World Cup.

A revitalised Germany are the hosts, though, and will be targeting victory in this competition for a record fourth time.

Here, we break down all you need to know ahead of the European Championships including the key dates, stadiums, groups, where to watch and more.

When does the 2024 European Championships start?

The 2024 European Championships get underway on Friday 14th June, with a Group A match between host nation Germany and Scotland at the Munich Football Arena (20:00 kick-off UK time).

It kick-starts an exciting month of football with the best European talent battling it out to become champions.

Where is the 2024 European Championships taking place?

The tournament will be played out at venues across Germany. It is the third occasion the country has hosted a major tournament, after the 1988 European Championships in West Germany and the 2006 World Cup.

Eight stadiums have been selected as host venues. They are as follows:

What is the format of the 2024 European Championships?

The 2024 European Championships consists of 24 teams split into six groups of four. The top two from each group will automatically qualify for the knockout stages, joined by the four best third-place finishers.

The fixtures for the first knockout round are determined based on finishing positions in the groups, with the group winners avoiding each other in the round of 16. The third-placed teams that do qualify will be guaranteed to meet a group winner in the next round.

The knockout stages are made up of a round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals and final, which is to be played at the Olympiastadion in Berlin. There is no third-place play-off at this year’s tournament which has been the case at every European Championships since 1984 in France.

The group stage matches award three points for a win and one for a draw, with goal difference deciding who finishes higher should teams be level on points. Should a knockout stage game end level, extra time of two 15-minute halves will be played with a penalty shootout to follow if scores are still tied. Zidane or Platini? Casillas or Buffon? Check out the BetMGM Ultimate European Championships XI here

2024 European Championships Groups in full

Six sections of four teams make up the 2024 European Championships group stage. Here’s how they line up:

Group A: Germany, Scotland, Hungary, Switzerland
Group B: Spain, Croatia, Italy, Albania
Group C: Slovenia, Denmark, Serbia, England
Group D: Poland, Netherlands, Austria, France
Group E: Belgium, Slovakia, Romania, Ukraine
Group F: Turkey, Georgia, Portugal, Czech Republic

England 2024 European Championships fixtures

England have been drawn in Group C alongside Slovenia, Denmark and Serbia. The Three Lions are 2/5 favourites to win their group and their full opening-stage schedule is as follows:

Serbia vs England: 16th June (20:00, BBC)
Denmark vs England: 20th June (17:00, BBC)
England vs Slovenia: 25th June (20:00, ITV)

Scotland 2024 European Championships fixtures

Scotland have been drawn in Group A alongside Germany, Hungary and Switzerland. They are 8/1 to top the section and their full group stage fixture list is as follows:

Germany vs Scotland: 14th June (20:00, ITV)
Scotland vs Switzerland: 19th June (20:00, BBC)
Scotland vs Hungary: 23rd June (20:00, BBC)

When is the 2024 European Championships final?

The final will be played on 14th July at the Olympiastadion in Berlin (20:00 UK time).

The stadium has held the showpiece match of a major tournament before, with the final of the 2006 World Cup taking place at the capital venue. The game ended in a 1-1 draw between Italy and France, with Marco Materazzi cancelling out an early penalty from Zinedine Zidane, playing in his last professional game.

The game remained level throughout the remainder of the 90 minutes, and through extra time, with the Italians prevailing 5-3 on penalties to win the World Cup for the fourth time.

Who are the 2024 European Championships favourites?

The outright betting is led by England. Gareth Southgate’s men travel to Germany as 3/1 favourites and hope to go one step further than 2020, where they were runners-up to Italy.

England have never won this competition but one country that has done, on more than one occasion, are second favourites France. Les Bleus can be backed at 4/1 while hosts Germany are available at 11/2. Meanwhile, 2016 winners Portugal are 8/1, with Italy 14/1 for back-to-back titles.

Steve Clarke’s Scotland are priced at 80/1 with BetMGM, while Albania, Slovenia and tournament debutant Georgia are the rank outsiders at 500/1.

BetMGM has a host of pre-tournament markets to choose from and be sure to keep an eye on the specials throughout the tournament as well as individual match offers, player award betting and more.

Where to watch the 2024 European Championships

Here are the dates of the group stage matches in full along with UK broadcasting information, which on many days sees three games broadcast in one day:

14th June: 20:00 Germany vs Scotland (ITV)
15th June: 14:00 Hungary vs Switzerland (ITV); 17:00 Spain vs Croatia (ITV); 20:00 Italy vs Albania (BBC)
16th June: 14:00 Poland vs Netherlands (BBC); 17:00 Slovenia vs Denmark (ITV); 20:00 Serbia vs England (BBC)
17th June: 14:00 Romania vs Ukraine (BBC) 17:00 Belgium vs Slovakia (ITV); 20:00 Austria vs France (ITV)
18th June: 17:00 Turkey vs Georgia (BBC); 20:00 Portugal vs Czech Republic (BBC)
19th June: 14:00 Croatia vs Albania (ITV); 17:00 Germany vs Hungary (BBC); 20:00 Scotland vs Switzerland (BBC)
20th June: 14:00 Slovenia vs Serbia (ITV); 17:00 Denmark vs England (BBC); 20:00 Spain vs Italy (ITV)
21st June: 14:00 Slovakia vs Ukraine (BBC); 17:00 Poland vs Austria (ITV); 20:00 Netherlands vs France (BBC)
22nd June: 14:00 Georgia vs Czech Republic (BBC); 17:00 Turkey vs Portugal (ITV); 20:00 Belgium vs Romania (ITV)
23rd June: 20:00 Scotland vs Hungary (BBC); Switzerland vs Germany (BBC)
24th June: 20:00 Albania vs Spain (BBC); Croatia vs Italy (BBC)
25th June: 17:00 France vs Poland (BBC); Netherlands vs Austria (BBC); 20:00 Denmark vs Serbia (ITV); England vs Slovenia (ITV)
26th June: 17:00 Slovakia vs Romania (BBC); Ukraine vs Belgium (BBC); 20:00 Czech Republic vs Turkey (ITV); Georgia vs Portugal (ITV)