The most anticipated football event ever is about to get underway, a whole year later than anticipated, but there’s no risk of us seeing a cancellation this late on in the month. Euro 2021 is all set for the big kick-off with 24 teams competing across 11 different host cities, but it hasn’t been without the odd hiccup along the way as both Dublin and Bilbao were dropped from the schedule only last month to make way for Seville.
The 11 cities and their stadiums are:
- Amsterdam (Netherlands) – Johan Cruyff Arena
- Baku (Azerbaijan) – Olympic Stadium
- Seville (Spain) – Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium
- Bucharest (Romania) – Arena Nationala
- Budapest (Hungary) – Puskas Arena
- Copenhagen (Denmark) – Parken Stadium
- Glasgow (Scotland) – Hampden Park
- London (England) – Wembley Stadium
- Munich (Germany) – Allianz Arena
- Rome (Italy) – Stadio Olimpico
- Saint Petersburg (Russia) – Krestovsky Stadium
Each of the 11 listed stadiums above will be host to three group-stage matches, which will take place between June 11 and June 23.
Group stages cities are as follows:
- Group A: Rome and Baku
- Group B: Saint Petersburg and Copenhagen
- Group C: Amsterdam and Bucharest
- Group D: London and Glasgow
- Group E: Seville and Saint Petersburg
- Group F: Munich and Budapest
Grouping Up
Home nations who qualify will play a minimum of two matches at home in the group stages. But what happens if two paired nations just happen to qualify? For example, if both England and Scotland qualify, they will be placed into Group D with a draw taking place to determine who will host their direct group=stage fixture.
There are five groups in the 16th UEFA European Championship, which will run from June 11th to July 11th, a whole month of wall-to-wall football!
The groups are as follows:
- Group A: Italy, Switzerland, Turkey, Wales
- Group B: Belgium, Russia, Denmark, Finland
- Group C: Ukraine, Netherlands, Austria, North Macedonia
- Group D: England, Croatia, Czech Republic, Scotland
- Group E: Spain, Poland, Sweden, Slovakia
The opening match will begin in Rome’s Stadio Olimpico on June 11th, with both the semi-finals and the final being held in England’s Wembley Stadium. Plus, there’s a third match scheduled for the national stadium too, the last 16-tie which was originally supposed to take place in Dublin, but since Dublin have been dropped as a host city, England take the helm. Because of the pan-European staging, no nation was awarded an automatic entry spot, which then resulted in all 55 teams enrolling into the qualification rounds. How the tournament works is as follows: winners and runners-up in each group will head to the knock-out stages, plus the four best third-finishing teams.
It’s a Knock-Out
Each of the listed cities will host one of the last 16 or quarter-final matches, before the semi-final and the final head on over to the capital of England. There will be no third-place play-off. Knockouts will take place between June 26 and July 11 in this order:
Round of 16:
- June 26: 1A v 2C, London – 2A v 2B, Amsterdam
- June 27: 1B v 3A/D/E/F, Bilbao – 1C v 3D/E/F, Budapest
- June 28: 2D v 2E, Copenhagen – 1F v 3A/B/C, Bucharest
- June 29: 1E v 3A/B/C/D, Glasgow – 1D v 2F, London
Quarter Finals:
- July 2: Saint Petersburg and Munich
- July 3: Baku and Rome
Semi-Finals:
Final:
The Fixtures
- Friday June 11
- Group A: Turkey vs Italy; Kick-off 8pm (Rome)
- Saturday June 12
- Group A: Wales vs Switzerland; Kick-off 2pm (Baku)
- Group B: Denmark vs Finland; Kick-off 5pm (Copenhagen)
- Group B: Belgium vs Russia; Kick-off 8pm (St Petersburg)
- Sunday June 13
- Group D: England vs Croatia; Kick-off 2pm (London)
- Group C: Austria vs North Macedonia; Kick-off 5pm (Bucharest)
- Group C: Netherlands vs Ukraine; Kick-off 8pm (Amsterdam)
- Monday June 14
- Group D: Scotland vs Czech Republic; Kick-off 2pm (Glasgow)
- Group E: Poland vs Slovakia; Kick-off 5pm (St Petersburg)
- Group E: Spain vs Sweden; Kick-off 8pm (Seville)
- Tuesday June 15
- Group F: Hungary vs Portugal; Kick-off 5pm (Budapest)
- Group F: France vs Germany; Kick-off 8pm (Munich)
- Wednesday June 16
- Group B: Finland vs Russia: Kick-off 2pm (St Petersburg)
- Group A: Turkey vs Wales: Kick-off 5pm (Baku)
- Group A: Italy vs Switzerland; Kick-off 8pm (Rome)
- Thursday June 17
- Group C: Ukraine vs North Macedonia; Kick-off 2pm (Bucharest)
- Group B: Denmark vs Belgium; Kick-off 5pm (Copenhagen)
- Group C: Netherlands vs Austria; Kick-off 8pm (Amsterdam)
- Friday June 18
- Group E: Sweden vs Slovakia; Kick-off 2pm (St Petersburg)
- Group D: Croatia vs Czech Republic; Kick-off 5pm (Glasgow)
- Group D: England vs Scotland; Kick-off 8pm (London)
- Saturday June 19
- Group F: Hungary vs France; Kick-off 2pm (Budapest)
- Group F: Portugal vs Germany; Kick-off 5pm (Munich)
- Group E: Spain vs Poland; Kick-off 8pm (Seville)
- Sunday June 20
- Group A: Italy vs Wales; Kick-off 5pm (Rome)
- Group A: Switzerland vs Turkey; Kick-off 5pm (Baku)
- Monday June 21
- Group C: North Macedonia vs Netherlands; Kick-off 5pm (Amsterdam)
- Group C: Ukraine vs Austria; Kick-off 5pm (Bucharest)
- Group B: Russia vs Denmark; Kick-off 8pm (Copenhagen)
- Group B: Finland vs Belgium; Kick-off 8pm (St Petersburg)
- Tuesday June 22
- Group D: Croatia vs Scotland; Kick-off 8pm (Glasgow)
- Group D: Czech Republic vs England; Kick-off 8pm (London)
- Wednesday June 23
- Group E: Slovakia vs Spain; Kick-off 5pm (Seville)
- Group E: Sweden vs Poland; Kick-off 5pm (St Petersburg)
- Group F: Portugal vs France; Kick-off 8pm (Budapest)
- Group F: Germany vs Hungary; Kick-off 8pm (Munich)
Round 16:
- Saturday June 26
- Game 1: Group A runners-up vs Group B runners-up; Kick-off 5pm (Amsterdam)
- Game 2: Group A winners vs Group C runners-up; Kick-off 8pm (London)
- Sunday June 27
- Game 3: Group C winners vs third-placed side from Group D/E/F; Kick-off 5pm (Budapest)
- Game 4: Group B winners vs third-placed side from Group A/D/E/F; Kick-off 8pm (Seville)
- Monday June 28
- Game 5: Group D runners-up vs Group E runners-up; Kick-off 5pm (Copenhagen)
- Game 6: Group F winners vs third-placed side from Group A/B/C; Kick-off 8pm (Bucharest)
- Tuesday June 29
- Game 7: Group D winners vs Group F runners-up; Kick-off 5pm (London)
- Game 8: Group E winners vs third-placed side Group A/B/C/D; Kick-off 8pm (Glasgow)
Quarter-finals:
- Friday July 2
- Quarter-final 1: Game 6 winner vs Game 5 winner; Kick-off 5pm (St Petersburg)
- Quarter-final 2: Game 4 winner vs Game 2 winner; Kick-off 8pm (Munich)
- Saturday July 3
- Quarter-final 3: Game 3 winner vs Game 1 winner; Kick-off 5pm (Baku)
- Quarter-final 4: Game 8 winner vs Game 7 winner; Kick-off 8pm (Rome)
Semi-finals
- Tuesday July 6
- Semi-final 1: Quarter-final 2 winner vs Quarter-final 1 winner; Kick-off 8pm (Wembley, London)
- Wednesday July 7
- Semi-final 2: Quarter-final 4 winner vs Quarter-final 3 winner; Kick-off 8pm (Wembley, London)
The Final
- Sunday July 11
- Kick-off 8pm (Wembley, London)
