The countdown for Euro 2020 is on with less than three months to go until the tournament gets underway a year after its postponement.
That Covid-19 enforced delay will have been beneficial to some of the bigger nations but detrimental to others’ hopes of winning the competition.
England have emerged as joint pre-tournament favourites for Euro 2020 – organisers have stuck with that name despite it taking place this summer – after impressing in recent tournaments and building an exciting, youthful squad. A talent-packed France squad are considered to be the other front-runners as they seek to add to their World Cup win in 2018.
Portugal will be confident of retaining their crown having assembled a stronger support cast to Cristiano Ronaldo than they had in 2016 and Spain are starting to usher in a new era whilst retaining a few old stagers like Sergio Ramos in defence.
This could be the last big opportunity for Belgium’s vaunted ‘golden generation’ to deliver a first title in the country’s history and it will also be the end of the road for Joachim Löw who steps down as Germany’s coach after 15 years in the job after the conclusion of the tournament.
Time has not been kind to the Netherlands, meanwhile, who have lost their coach Ronald Koeman to Barcelona and captain Virgil van Dijk to a knee injury since qualifying for the tournament.
It will be their first appearance at a major finals since the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
Despite travel-related issues related to Covid-19, Uefa is pressing on with its original plan to host the tournament across the continent for the first time in history.
Here is all you need to know about the upcoming European Championship.
Euro 2020 Groups
- Group A: Italy, Switzerland, Turkey, Wales
- Group B: Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Russia
- Group C: Austria, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Ukraine
- Group D: Croatia, Czech Republic, England, Scotland
- Group E: Poland, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden
- Group F: France, Germany, Hungary, Portugal
As was the case at the last European Championship, it will be a 24-team tournament comprising of six groups of four with two sides progressing from each and the two best third-placed teams joining them in the last-16.
There are major Euro ’96 vibes in Group D with England facing the ‘Auld Enemy’ Scotland, who reached a major tournament for the first time since World Cup 1998 courtesy of a nerve-shredding penalty shootout win over Serbia the play-off back in November.
Wales will be looking to emulate their achievements from five years ago when, in their first tournament in 58 years, they progressed to the semi-final, only to lose out to eventual champions Portugal.
They are in a competitive looking group alongside Italy who are back in the big time after missing the last World Cup.
Group F is a particularly grizzly one with 2014 World Cup winners Germany, 2016 European Champions Portugal and 2018 World Cup winners France all pitted against one another. Hungary complete the quartet.
Finland and North Macedonia, meanwhile, have both qualified for the first time in their history.
Euro 2020 fixtures – in full
Group A:
- Friday 11 June: Turkey vs Italy
- Saturday 12 June: Wales vs Switzerland
- Wednesday 16 June: Turkey vs Wales
- Wednesday 16 June: Italy vs Switzerland
- Sunday 20 June: Italy vs Wales
- Sunday 20 June: Switzerland vs Turkey
Group B:
- Saturday 12 June: Denmark vs Finland
- Saturday 12 June: Belgium vs Russia
- Wednesday 16 June: Finland vs Russia
- Thursday 17 June: Denmark vs Belgium
- Monday 21 June: Finland vs Belgium
- Monday 21 June: Russia vs Denmark
Group C:
- Sunday 13 June: Austria vs North Macedonia
- Sunday 13 June: Netherlands vs Ukraine
- Thursday 17 June: Ukraine vs North Macedonia
- Thursday 17 June: Netherlands vs Austria
- Monday 21 June: Ukraine vs Austria
- Monday 21 June: North Macedonia vs Netherlands
Group D:
- Sunday 13 June: England vs Croatia
- Monday 14 June: Scotland vs Czech Republic
- Friday 18 June: Croatia vs Czech Republic
- Friday 18 June: England vs Scotland
- Tuesday 22 June: Czech Republic vs England
- Tuesday 22 June: Croatia vs Scotland
Group E:
- Monday 14 June: Poland vs Slovakia
- Monday 14 June: Spain vs Sweden
- Friday 18 June: Sweden vs Slovakia
- Saturday 19 June: Spain vs Poland
- Wednesday 23 June: Sweden vs Poland
- Wednesday 23 June: Slovakia vs Spain
Group F:
- Tuesday 15 June: Hungary vs Portugal
- Tuesday 15 June: France vs Germany
- Saturday 19 June: Hungary vs France
- Saturday 19 June: Portugal vs Germany
- Wednesday 23 June: Germany vs Hungary
- Wednesday 23 June: Portugal vs France
Round of 16:
- Saturday 26 June: 2A vs 2B (Game 1)
- Saturday 26 June: 1A vs 2C (Game 2)
- Sunday 27 June: 1C vs 3D/E/F (Game 3)
- Sunday 27 June: 1B vs 3A/D/E/F (Game 4)
- Monday 28 June: 2D vs 2E (Game 5)
- Monday 28 June: 1F vs 3A/B/C (Game 6)
- Tuesday 29 June: 1D vs 2F (Game 7)
- Tuesday 29 June: 1E vs 3A/B/C/D (Game 8)
Quarter final:
- Friday 2 July: Game 6 winner vs Game 5 winner
- Friday 2 July: Game 4 winner vs Game 2 winner
- Saturday 3 July: Game 3 winner vs Game 1 winner
- Saturday 3 July: Game 8 winner vs Game 7 winner
Semi final:
- Tuesday 6 July: QF2 winner vs QF1 winner
- Wednesday 7 July: QF4 winner vs QF3 winner
Final:
- Sunday 11 July
The 36 group stage matches will be spread out across the 12 venues with the first match between Turkey and Italy taking place in the Stadio Olympico in Rome.
From the semi-final onwards, though, it will be an all-Wembley affair with the final three matches of the tournament taking place at England’s national stadium.
Venues
- Johan Cruijff ArenA, Amsterdam
- Olympic Stadium, Baku
- Estadio de San Mames, Bilbao
- National Arena, Bucharest
- Puskas Arena, Budapest
- Parken Stadium, Copenhagen
- Dublin Arena, Dublin
- Hampden Park, Glasgow
- Wembley Stadium, London
- Fußball Arena Munchen, Munich
- Stadio Olimpico, Rome
- St Petersburg Stadium, Saint Petersburg
The bookies’ favourites
*Odds via Sky Bet
- England – 5-1
- France – 5-1
- Belgium – 11-2
- Germany – 15-2
- Spain – 15-2
- Netherlands – 9-1
- Portugal – 9-1
- Italy – 11-1
- Croatia – 33-1
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from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/39eGIBq
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