UEFA Euro 2020


The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 or simply Euro 2020, is scheduled to be the 16th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe organised by the Union of European Football Associations.
The tournament, to be held in 12 cities in 12 UEFA countries, was originally scheduled to take place from 12 June to 12 July 2020. On 17 March 2020, UEFA announced that the tournament would be delayed by a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe, and proposed it take place from 11 June to 11 July 2021, which was confirmed on 17 June 2020. The competition was postponed in order to reduce pressure on the public services in affected countries and to allow time for the completion of domestic leagues that had been suspended. The tournament will still retain the name "UEFA Euro 2020".
UEFA President Michel Platini said the tournament is being hosted in several nations as a "romantic" one-off event to celebrate the 60th "birthday" of the European Championship competition. Having the largest capacity of any of the stadiums entered for the competition, Wembley Stadium in London is scheduled to host the semi-finals and final for the second time, having done so before at the 1996 tournament in the stadium's former incarnation. The Stadio Olimpico in Rome was chosen to host the opening game, involving Turkey and hosts Italy.
Portugal are the defending champions, having won the 2016 competition. For the first time, the video assistant referee system will be used at the UEFA European Championship.

Bid process

While some countries had already expressed an interest in bidding to host the tournament, then-UEFA President Michel Platini suggested at a press conference on 30 June 2012, a day before the UEFA Euro 2012 Final, that instead of having one host country, the tournament could be spread over "12 or 13 cities" across the continent. At the time, UEFA already used a similar system for the UEFA European Under-17 Championship's Elite Round, where each of the seven groups is hosted by a different country.

European format decision

On 6 December 2012, UEFA announced the tournament would be held in multiple cities across Europe to mark the 60th anniversary of the tournament. The selection of the host cities did not guarantee an automatic qualifying berth to the national team of that country.
UEFA reasoned that the pan-European staging of the tournament was the logical decision at a time of financial difficulty across Europe. Reaction to UEFA's plan was mixed across Europe. Critics have cited the expanded format and its associated additional costs as the decisive factor for only one nation having put forward a serious bid.

Bidding venues

The final list of bids was published by UEFA on 26 April 2014, with a decision on the hosts being made by the UEFA Executive Committee on 19 September 2014. There were two bids for the Finals Package and 19 bids for the Standard Package ; Brussels, marked with red, were initially selected but removed from the list of venues by UEFA on 7 December 2017 and the planned games there were moved to London.
CountryCityVenueCapacityPackageResult
BakuOlympic Stadium68,700Standard PackageGroup stage and quarter-finals
MinskDinamo Stadium34,000 Standard PackageRejected
BrusselsEurostadium 50,000 Standard PackageGroup stage and round of 16
SofiaVasil Levski National Stadium43,000 Standard PackageRejected
CopenhagenParken Stadium38,065Standard PackageGroup stage and round of 16
LondonWembley Stadium90,000Finals Package
Semi-finals and final
Group stage and round of 16
MunichAllianz Arena75,000Standard Package, Finals PackageGroup stage and quarter-finals
BudapestPuskás Aréna56,000 Standard PackageGroup stage and round of 16
JerusalemTeddy Stadium34,000 Standard PackageRejected
RomeStadio Olimpico72,698Standard PackageGroup stage and quarter-finals
SkopjePhilip II Arena33,460Standard PackageRejected
AmsterdamJohan Cruyff Arena54,990 Standard PackageGroup stage and round of 16
DublinAviva Stadium51,700Standard PackageGroup stage and round of 16
BucharestArena Națională55,600Standard PackageGroup stage and round of 16
Saint PetersburgKrestovsky Stadium68,134Standard PackageGroup stage and quarter-finals
GlasgowHampden Park52,063Standard PackageGroup stage and round of 16
BilbaoSan Mamés53,332Standard PackageGroup stage and round of 16
Solna, StockholmFriends Arena54,329Standard PackageEliminated
CardiffMillennium Stadium74,500Standard PackageEliminated

COVID-19 pandemic and postponement

In early 2020, the pandemic in Europe of COVID-19 raised concerns regarding its potential impact on players, staff and visitors to the twelve host cities of the tournament. At the UEFA Congress in early March, UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin said the organisation was confident that the situation could be dealt with, while general secretary Theodore Theodoridis stated that UEFA was maintaining contact with the World Health Organization and national governments regarding the coronavirus. The impact on football grew later that month, as numerous domestic and UEFA competition matches began taking place behind closed doors. By 13 March 2020, upcoming UEFA competition fixtures were postponed, while major European leagues were suspended, including the Bundesliga, La Liga, Ligue 1, Premier League and Serie A.
UEFA held a videoconference on 17 March 2020 with representatives of its 55 member associations, along with a FIFPro representative and the boards of the European Club Association and European Leagues, to discuss the response to the outbreak for domestic and European competitions, including Euro 2020. At the meeting, UEFA announced that the tournament would be postponed to the following year, proposing that it take place from 11 June to 11 July 2021. The postponement allowed for pressure to be reduced on the public services in affected countries, while also providing space in the calendar for domestic European leagues that had been suspended to complete their seasons. On the following day, the Bureau of the FIFA Council approved the date change in the FIFA International Match Calendar. As a result, the expanded FIFA Club World Cup, which was due to take place in June and July 2021, will be rescheduled. On 23 April 2020, UEFA confirmed that the tournament would still be known as UEFA Euro 2020.
In May 2020, Čeferin stated that in principle the tournament would take place in the twelve selected host cities. However, he did not rule out the possibility of reducing the number of cities, as three hosts were unsure if matches could be held under the new schedule. The tournament venues and match schedule was reviewed by the UEFA Executive Committee during their meeting on 17 June 2020. At the meeting, UEFA confirmed that all twelve original host venues would remain as hosts for the tournament in 2021.

Qualification

There was no automatic qualifying berth, and all 55 UEFA national teams, including the 12 national teams whose countries are scheduled to stage matches, had to compete in the qualifiers for the 24 places at the finals tournament. As the host cities were appointed by UEFA in September 2014, before the qualifiers, it is possible for the national teams from the host cities to fail to qualify for the finals tournament.
The qualifying draw was held on 2 December 2018 at the Convention Centre Dublin in Dublin, Republic of Ireland.
The main qualifying process started in March 2019, instead of immediately in September 2018 following the 2018 FIFA World Cup, and ended in November 2019. The format remains largely the same, although only 20 of the 24 spots for the finals tournament were decided from the main qualifying process, leaving four spots still to be decided. Following the admission of Kosovo to UEFA in May 2016, it was announced that the 55 members at the time would be drawn into ten groups after the completion of the UEFA Nations League, with the top two teams in each group qualifying. The qualifiers were played on double matchdays in March, June, September, October and November 2019.
With the creation of the UEFA Nations League starting in 2018, the 2018–19 UEFA Nations League was linked with Euro qualifying, providing teams another chance to qualify for the tournament. Four teams from each division that have not already qualified for the European Championship are to compete in the play-offs for each division. The winners of the play-offs for each division, to be decided by two one-off semi-finals and one one-off final, are scheduled to join the 20 teams that have already qualified for the tournament.

Qualified teams

Of the currently 20 teams that have qualified for the tournament, 17 are returning from the 2016 edition. Among them are Belgium and Italy, who both recorded flawless qualifying campaigns, defending European champions Portugal and world champions France, with Germany also qualifying for a record 13th straight European Championship. Finland will make their European Championship debut, having never previously qualified for a major tournament. The Netherlands and Denmark returned after missing out in 2016, with the Dutch featuring in a major tournament for the first time since 2014. For the first time, Austria and Wales reached successive European Championship tournaments. Greece, winners in 2004, were the only former champions that failed to qualify, missing their second straight European Championship and third consecutive major tournament.
Of the twelve host countries, seven managed to qualify directly for the tournament. Four will enter the play-offs, with a maximum of three being able to qualify, while Azerbaijan were entirely eliminated following the qualifying group stage.

Venues

The venues were selected and announced by UEFA on 19 September 2014. However, the UEFA Executive Committee removed Brussels as a host city on 7 December 2017 due to delays with the building of the Eurostadium. The four matches initially scheduled to be held in Brussels were reallocated to London. Therefore, Wembley Stadium will host a total of seven matches, as London was already chosen to host the semi-finals and final of the tournament. On 7 December 2017, it was also announced that the opening match would take place at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, chosen ahead of Amsterdam, Glasgow and Saint Petersburg. UEFA decided that, should they qualify, the opening match would feature Italy.
Of the 12 selected cities and countries, 8 cities and 7 countries have never hosted a European Championship finals match before. Bilbao was not a venue when Spain hosted the 1964 European Nations' Cup, and none of Azerbaijan, Denmark, Hungary, Romania, Republic of Ireland, Russia, or Scotland has hosted the tournament previously. Of the 12 selected stadia, only 2 have hosted a European Championship match before: the Stadio Olimpico and the Johan Cruyff Arena. The original Wembley stadium hosted games and the final in UEFA Euro 1996, but although it stands on the same site, this is classified as a different stadium to the current Wembley Stadium.
Each city will host three group stage matches and one match in the round of 16 or quarter-finals. The match allocation for the 12 stadiums is as follows:
The host cities were divided into six pairings, established on the basis of sporting strength, geographical considerations, and security/political constraints. The pairings were allocated to groups by means of a random draw on 7 December 2017. Each qualified host country will play a minimum of two matches at home. The group venue pairings is as follows:
The following criteria apply to define the home matches of host teams within the same group:
If a host team in the play-offs fails to qualify, the path winner will take the spot of the host in the match schedule and therefore will play the two or three matches based on the above criteria in the host city of the respective host that failed to qualify. The draw took place on 22 November 2019, 12:00 CET, at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland. In the draw, which was only necessary for Group B, two balls were prepared, with the first drawn hosting the three matches.

Team base camps

Each team chooses a "team base camp" for its stay between the matches. The teams will train and reside in these locations throughout the tournament, travelling to games staged away from their bases. Unlike previous tournaments, each team can set up their base camp anywhere due to the pan-European format, without any obligation of staying in any of the host countries.
The base camps selected by the twenty directly qualified teams were announced by UEFA on 27 January 2020.
TeamBase camp
Seefeld in Tirol, Austria
Tubize, Belgium
St Andrews, Scotland
Currie, Edinburgh, Scotland
Helsingør, Denmark
Burton upon Trent, England
Repino, Saint Petersburg, Russia
Clairefontaine-en-Yvelines, France
Herzogenaurach, Germany
Coverciano, Florence, Italy
Zeist, Netherlands
Portmarnock, Republic of Ireland
Budapest, Hungary
Khimki, Russia
Las Rozas de Madrid, Spain
Maynooth, Republic of Ireland
Rome, Italy
Baku, Azerbaijan
Bucharest, Romania
Baku, Azerbaijan

Final draw

The draw for the final tournament was held on 30 November 2019, 18:00 CET at Romexpo in Bucharest, Romania. The 24 teams were drawn into six groups of four. The identity of the four play-off teams were not known at the time of the draw and were identified as play-off winners A to D. Should there have been groups that could not be finalised at the time of the final tournament draw, another draw would have been held after the play-offs on 1 April 2020, but UEFA confirmed the additional draw was not necessary after the identity of the 20 directly qualified teams and the 16 play-offs teams was known.
The teams were seeded in accordance with the European Qualifiers overall ranking based on their results in UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying. The following was the standard composition of the draw pots:
As two host teams from the same group could not be in the same seeding pot, the UEFA Emergency Panel would have either switched one host team with the lowest-ranked team of the higher pot, or switched one host team with the highest-ranked team of the lower pot. However, no seeding adjustments were necessary.
The draw started with Pot 1 and completed with Pot 4, from where a team was drawn and assigned to the first available group. The position in the group was then drawn. In the draw, the following conditions applied :
Due to the format of the play-offs, which made anticipating all possible scenarios impossible, the UEFA administration had to wait to solve issues relating to the final tournament draw until the completion of the qualifying group stage. It was not possible for UEFA to prevent one of the play-off paths from containing two host teams, resulting in Romania and Hungary being drawn together in Path A. Therefore, the winner of this play-off path needed to be assigned two groups in the final tournament draw. To allow for this, Path A was paired with Path D, therefore providing a clear scenario for each possible qualified team. A draw took place on 22 November 2019, 12:00 CET, at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, which decided on the order of priority for the allocation of Path A to the final tournament groups.
Two balls were prepared containing the names of the two groups hosted by the teams in question. The first ball drawn determined the group that was allocated to Path A, with the exception of the host team of the second ball drawn winning Path A. In the draw, Group F was selected as the priority group, resulting in the following possible outcomes:
The following was the composition of the pots:

Draw results and group fixtures

The draw resulted in the following groups :

The fixtures for the group stage were decided based on the draw results, as follows:
Note: Positions for scheduling did not use the seeding pots, and instead used the draw positions, e.g. Team 1 was not necessarily the team from Pot 1 in the draw.
MatchdayDatesMatches
Matchday 111–15 June 20211 v 2, 3 v 4
Matchday 216–19 June 20211 v 3, 2 v 4
Matchday 320–23 June 20214 v 1, 2 v 3

Squads

Each national team has to submit a squad of 23 players, three of whom must be goalkeepers, at least ten days before the opening match of the tournament. If a player becomes injured or ill severely enough to prevent his participation in the tournament before his team's first match, he can be replaced by another player.

Match officials

On 12 February 2020, UEFA and CONMEBOL signed a memorandum of understanding to enhance collaboration, including the possibility of a team of South American match officials appointed for the group stage of the tournament.

Group stage

UEFA announced the original tournament schedule on 24 May 2018, which only included kick-off times for the opening match and quarter-finals onward. The kick-off times of the remaining group stage and round of 16 matches were announced on 30 November 2019 following the final draw. On 17 June 2020, UEFA announced the revised match schedule for the tournament in 2021. All match dates, kick-off times and venues remained identical, but shifted one day earlier so matches would remain on the same day of the week.
Group winners, runners-up, and the [|best four third-placed teams] advance to the round of 16.
Times are CEST, as listed by UEFA. If the venue is located in a different time zone, the local time is also given.

Tiebreakers

If two or more teams are equal on points on completion of the group matches, the following tie-breaking criteria are applied:
  1. Higher number of points obtained in the matches played between the teams in question;
  2. Superior goal difference resulting from the matches played between the teams in question;
  3. Higher number of goals scored in the matches played between the teams in question;
  4. If, after having applied criteria 1 to 3, teams still have an equal ranking, criteria 1 to 3 are reapplied exclusively to the matches between the teams who are still level to determine their final rankings. If this procedure does not lead to a decision, criteria 5 to 10 apply;
  5. Superior goal difference in all group matches;
  6. Higher number of goals scored in all group matches;
  7. Higher number of wins in all group matches;
  8. If on the last round of the group stage, two teams are facing each other and each has the same number of points, as well as the same number of goals scored and conceded, and the score finishes level in their match, their ranking is determined by a penalty shoot-out. ;
  9. Lower disciplinary points total in all group matches ;
  10. Higher position in the European Qualifiers overall ranking.
Notes

Group A

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Group B

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Group C

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Group D

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Group E

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Group F

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Ranking of third-placed teams

Knockout phase

In the knockout phase, if a match is level at the end of normal playing time, extra time is played, with each team being allowed to make a fourth substitution. If still tied after extra time, the match is decided by a penalty shoot-out.
As with every tournament since UEFA Euro 1984, there is no third place play-off.
Times are CEST, as listed by UEFA. If the venue is located in a different time zone, the local time is also given.

Bracket

Round of 16

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Quarter-finals

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Semi-finals

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Final

Prize money

The prize money was finalised in February 2018. Each team receives a participation fee of €9.25 million, with the winner able to earn a maximum of €34 million.
Round achievedAmountNumber of teams
Final tournament€9.25m24
Group stage€1.5m for a win
€750,000 for a draw
24
Round of 16€2m16
Quarter-finals€3.25m8
Semi-finals€5m4
Runner-up€7m1
Winner€10m1

Marketing

Video game

The game was released by Konami as a free DLC on eFootball PES 2020 in June 2020. It includes the official kits and player likenesses for all 55 officially licensed UEFA teams. The update also includes five out of 12 venues of the 2020 tournament, as well as the official match ball.

Logo and slogan

The official logo was unveiled on 21 September 2016, during a ceremony at the City Hall in London. The logo depicts the Henri Delaunay Trophy surrounded by celebrating fans on a bridge, which, according to UEFA, represents how football connects and unifies people.
Each individual host city also has their own unique logo. The rectangular logos feature the text "UEFA EURO 2020" on the top, the city name above the text "host city" on the bottom, the main tournament logo on the left, and a local bridge on the right. Each logo exists in English, along with variations in the local language when applicable. The logos were unveiled from September 2016 to January 2017.
Host cityDate announcedBridgeOther language
London21 September 2016Tower Bridge
Rome22 September 2016Ponte Sant'AngeloItalian
Baku30 September 2016Baku cable-stayed bridgeAzerbaijani
Bucharest15 October 2016Basarab OverpassRomanian
Glasgow25 October 2016Clyde Arc
Munich27 October 2016WittelsbacherbrückeGerman
Copenhagen1 November 2016Circle BridgeDanish
Budapest16 November 2016Széchenyi Chain BridgeHungarian
Dublin24 November 2016Samuel Beckett BridgeIrish
Brussels14 December 2016Dutch, French
Bilbao15 December 2016San Antón BridgeSpanish
Amsterdam16 December 2016Magere BrugDutch
Saint Petersburg19 January 2017Palace BridgeRussian

The official slogan of the tournament is "Live It. For Real". The slogan is meant to encourage fans to see the matches live in the stadiums across Europe.

Match ball

On 6 November 2019, UEFA announced that the Uniforia by Adidas would be the tournament's official match ball. Predominantly white, the ball features black strokes with blue, neon, and pink stripes. The name is derived from a portmanteau of "unity" and "euphoria".

Mascot

The official mascot of the tournament, Skillzy, was unveiled on 24 March 2019. The character is inspired by freestyle football, street football and panna culture.

Official song

On 19 October 2019, Dutch DJ and record producer Martin Garrix was announced as the official music artist of the tournament. He will produce the official song of the tournament, as well as the walkout music preceding matches and the television broadcast music. The tournament song will be first performed in full at the opening ceremony at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.

Sponsorship

Broadcasting

The International Broadcast Centre will be located at the Expo Haarlemmermeer in Vijfhuizen, Netherlands.
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