When will the European Championship take place?
It starts on 12 June 2020 with the opening match in Rome. Italy then meets an opponent still to be lured. The preliminary round ends on 24 June, the knockout stage begins on 27 June. The two semi-finals (July 7th and 8th) and the final (July 12th) will be played in London's Wembley Stadium.
Where is played - and why?
Following an initiative by former Uefa President Michel Platini, who had been banned for years, the European Football Association decided to hold a final tournament throughout the continent to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the European Championship. Originally, 32 stadiums had applied for the venue, leaving at the end twelve cities: Amsterdam, Baku, Bilbao, Budapest, Bucharest, Dublin, Glasgow, Copenhagen, London, Munich, Rome and St Petersburg.
What is the tournament mode?
As with the European Championship 2016, 24 teams will participate. There will be six groups of four teams. The group winners, the runners-up and the four best third parties will all enter the round of 16. In the co-mode, the winners will be scored as usual in 90 minutes, in an extra time or in a draw after 120 minutes in a penalty shoot-out.
How is the draw going?
Twenty of the 24 participating teams have already been announced, and the four other places will be determined in March in play-off matches of the best Nations League participants. At the group draw on Saturday in Bucharest (18 o'clock live ticker SPIEGEL) there will be four lottery pots, which were determined on the basis of the achievements in the European Championship qualification. Germany is the winner of the qualifying group in the first Lostopf, but is already determined as a permanent participant of the EM Group F.
Group division EM 2020
| group | Member | venues | |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | Italy | Rome and Baku | |
| A | Pot 2: France, Poland, Switzerland or Croatia | Rome and Baku | |
| A | Pot 3: Portugal, Turkey, Austria, Sweden or the Czech Republic | Rome and Baku | |
| A | Pot 4: Wales or Finland | Rome and Baku | |
| B | Belgium | Copenhagen and Saint Petersburg | |
| B | Russia | Copenhagen and Saint Petersburg | |
| B | Denmark | Copenhagen and Saint Petersburg | |
| B | Pot 4: Wales or Finland | Copenhagen and Saint Petersburg | |
| C | Ukraine | Amsterdam and Bucharest | |
| C | Netherlands | Amsterdam and Bucharest | |
| C | Pot 3: Portugal, Turkey, Austria, Sweden or the Czech Republic | Amsterdam and Bucharest | |
| C | Playoff path A or D | Amsterdam and Bucharest | |
| D | England | London and Glasgow | |
| D | Pot 2: France, Poland, Switzerland or Croatia | London and Glasgow | |
| D | Pot 3: Portugal, Turkey, Austria, Sweden or the Czech Republic | London and Glasgow | |
| D | Playoff path C | London and Glasgow | |
| e | Spain | Bilbao and Dublin | |
| e | Pot 2: France, Poland, Switzerland or Croatia | Bilbao and Dublin | |
| e | Pot 3: Portugal, Turkey, Austria, Sweden or the Czech Republic | Bilbao and Dublin | |
| e | Playoff Path B | Bilbao and Dublin | |
| F | Germany | Munich and Budapest | |
| F | Pot 2: France, Poland, Switzerland or Croatia | Munich and Budapest | |
| F | Pot 3: Portugal, Turkey, Austria, Sweden or the Czech Republic | Munich and Budapest | |
| F | Playoff path A or D | Munich and Budapest |
Greased teams have been assigned to their groups prior to the draw as they have a right to at least two home games as hosts.
In the past week, the Uefa had already set the playoff pairings in a pre-draw. The 16 teams will play in four different paths the last four European Championship participants. The semi-finals will be played on March 26th, five days later the four finals will be played.
The playoff pairings at a glance
Path A (ends up in EM group F or C):
Iceland - Romania
Bulgaria - Hungary
The winner of the 2nd semifinals has home right in the final
Path B (lands in EM Group E):
Bosnia and Herzegovina - Northern Ireland
Slovakia - Ireland
Winner of the 1st semifinal will have home right in the final
Path C (lands in EM Group D):
Scotland - Israel
Norway - Serbia
The winner of the 2nd semifinals has home right in the final
Path D (lands in EM group C or F):
Georgia - Belarus
North Macedonia - Kosovo
Winner of the 1st semifinal will have home right in the final
What happens if in the group prohibited games in the further course of the tournament come about?
The Uefa had set in the run-up to the European Championship qualifiers games that are prohibited due to political tensions in the first round. As things currently stand, this concerns only one possible match between Russia and Ukraine. It is also to be explained that Belgium from Lostopf 1 was assigned to the Russian Group B. The other nations from the first Lostopf (Italy, England, Spain, Germany) are EM hosts and therefore also set as group heads. As Ukraine is not allowed to meet Russia, the Ukrainian team is a member of Group C.
If Kosovo qualify for the European Championship via playoff path D, they could play three banned games: Russia, Serbia (playoff path C) and Bosnia-Herzegovina (playoff route B). In the preliminary round, these teams avoid each other in any case. According to Uefa, however, the ban only applies to the group stage, and in the knockout phase the games would take place despite political concerns.
Where will the European Championship be broadcast?
Unlike the DFB games in qualifying, which ran at the private broadcaster RTL, all 51 European Championship games are broadcast by the public broadcasters ARD and ZDF. The exact division of the games takes place after the draw of the exact definition of the game plan.