Football
How Many Teams In Euro 2024?
The European Championship (Euros), the world’s second-most watched international football tournament is here, but how many teams are in Euro 2024?
Image Cricket: EA
There are 24 teams in Euro 2024, which begins Friday, June 14, in Germany. The 2024 UEFA European Championship is the third tournament since 2016 to consist of 24 countries after expansion from 16 teams in 2012. The next two editions of the world’s second-most watched football tournament will also have 24 teams qualifying for Europe’s showpiece event in 2028 and 2032.
There are 51 matches during this month-long European football fiesta. Ten German cities are hosting matches, beginning in Bavaria on Friday night, June 14, and ending in Berlin on Sunday, July 14. Germany and Scotland get the tournament underway at the Munich Football Arena, but who plays in the final, is anyone’s guess.
To qualify to host Euro games, each city had to have a stadium capacity of 30,000 or more to be considered. Hosts Germany automatically qualified, while the other 23 countries played a two-year qualifying tournament to decide who of the 55 eligible countries books their tickets to the European Championship. SportsBoom is your guide to UEFA Euro 2024, which is around the corner!
Image Credits: cabezadeturco
How does Euro 2024 work?
As with the previous 24-team tournament, the Euro 2024 format splits the qualified nations into six groups of four, in Group A to F. Each team will play one-off matches against each opponent in their respective group. The top two teams will qualify for the first knockout stage of the tournament. This is known as the Round of 16. The four best third-placed teams will also go through to the next round. The eight remaining teams will go home.
From here on out, it’s win and in; lose and go home. One-off games will be settled on the day, with either extra time or penalties deciding the result if there is a stalemate after 90 minutes of regulation time. The group stages begin on June 14 and end June 26. There is a two-day break before the knock-outs.
The Round of 16 begins on June 29, ending July 2. Another two-day rest period occurs before the quarter-finals. The last eight sees two matches take place on back-to-back days on July 5 and 6. Again, there is a two-day rest prior to the two semi-finals. The games to decide who plays in the showpiece match are played on July 9 and 10.
The losers of the semi-finals get a two-day break before contesting the dreaded Bronze Medal match. The winners get a three-day break to recoup before the final at the Berliner Olympiastadion on July 14.
Image Credits: Quirinale.it
Euro 2024 Group Stage: Team Breakdown
The 24 countries go into six groups: Group A to F. Germany, the hosts, go into Group A after being seeded first in pot 1, A1, as happens every tournament with all UEFA European Championship tournaments. The three play-off winners (Poland, Georgia, and Ukraine) had not qualified yet at the time of the group-stage draw. The teams participating in the Euros play-offs, were placed into pot 4 for the Euro 2024 draw.
Pot 1: Germany (Host), qualification group winners ranked 1 to 5
Pot 2: Group winners ranked 6 to 10, group runners-up ranked 1 (6 to 11)
Pot 3: Group runners-up ranked 2 to 7 (12 to 17)
Pot 4: Group runners-up ranked 8 to 10 (18 to 20 overall), play-off winners A - C (unknown at the time of the draw)
Image Credits: Tobias Alt, Tobi 87
Euro 2024 Finals Draw
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
EURO 2024 Host Cities
| City | Stadium | Capacity |
| Berlin | Berliner Olympiastadion | 70,000 |
| Munich | Munich Football Arena | 67,000 |
| Dortmund | BVB Stadion Dortmund | 66,000 |
| Stuttgart | Stuttgart Arena | 54,000 |
| Gelsenkirchen | Arena AufSchalke | 50,000 |
| Hamburg | Volskparkstadion Hamburg | 50,000 |
| Frankfurt | Frankfurt Arena | 47,000 |
| Dusseldorf | Dusseldorf Arena | 47,000 |
| Cologne | Cologne Stadium | 47,000 |
| Leipzig | Leipzig Stadium | 42,000 |
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FAQs
Cristiano Ronaldo, the world’s greatest striker, has scored the most goals at the UEFA Euros. Ronaldo has netted 14 goals, five more than Michel Platini.
Georgia is making their UEFA European Championship (Euros) debut, their first tournament since independence from the Soviet Union (USSR) in 1991.
France’s Michel Platini has scored the most hat-tricks at the UEFA European Championships (Euros). Platini bagged two trebles at the tournament.
Kacper Kozłowski became the youngest football player to appear at the UEFA European Championship. Kozłowski was 17 years and 246 days old when he played for Poland against Spain at Euro 2020.
Kaylan Geekie is a sports fanatic. He attended Durban High School before moving to Scotland, where he lived for 15 years. During his time in the United Kingdom, Kaylan graduated with a first-class BA Honours Degree in Sports Journalism at the University of the West of Scotland. Kaylan worked for nine years as the Match-Day Editor of SuperXV.com, reporting on Super Rugby, The Rugby Championship, the 2015 Men's Rugby World Cup and the 2017 British & Irish Lions series for the website.