Is it called EURO 2020 or EURO 2021?
First of all, a quick mention of the naming, which has caused a bit of confusion among football fans. It would probably make logical sense to rename EURO 2020 to EURO 2021, but UEFA has decided to keep the naming for the tournament to honour the event’s original vision and to avoid re-branding tasks and issues.
Naturally, the naming always differs a bit depending on who you ask, but now you know that the tournament is officially labelled as EURO 2020 and not EURO 2021. Actually, the formal name is the 2020 UEFA European Football Championship - the 16th tournament of its kind.
When is EURO 2020?
EURO 2020 runs from June 11 to July 11 in 2021.
Where is EURO 2020 being held?
24 teams will be participating in the tournament and to celebrate the tournament’s 60th birthday, 12 (now 11) cities across the continent were chosen by UEFA to host the venues.
Along with keeping the EURO 2020 naming, UEFA also confirmed last year that the 12 hosting countries and venues will remain the same. As such, the EURO 2020 fixtures will take place in:
London - Wembley Stadium
Munich - Allianz Arena
Rome - Stadio Olimpico
Amsterdam - Johan Cruyff Arena
Seville - La Cartuja Stadium
Glasgow - Hampden Park
Baku - Olympic Stadium
St. Petersburg - Krestovsky Stadium
Bucharest - Arena Nationala
Budapest - Puskás Aréna
Copenhagen - Parken
We definitely have several iconic football stadiums lined up for some epic matches, such as Stadio Olimpico, Hampden Park and Allianz Arena, with the legendary Wembley standing out in particular, ready to host the semi-finals as well as the EURO 2020 final.
Before we head on to the EURO 2020 groups, we will quickly address a couple of practical questions below.
Is EURO 2020 being cancelled or postponed again?
The corona pandemic is a global problem that will also be present to some extent during the summer. This makes it a bit difficult to predict if the tournament potentially will be postponed for the second time.
However, we are very optimistic that this will definitely not be the case, as UEFA-president Alexander Ceferin recently reaffirmed that the EURO 2020 tournament will unfold more or less exactly as planned across Europe.
EURO 2020 tickets
At the moment, there are no tickets on sale due to the uncertainties regarding the COVID-19 situation. According to UEFA, information about future ticket sales will be available in April 2021.
Will VAR be used in the EURO 2020?
Yes. For the first time, the video assistant referee system, commonly known as VAR, will be used at the UEFA European Championship.
EURO 2020 groups
We are ready for a lot of exciting clashes in the EURO 2020 group stage! Below you will find an overview of the groups and venues.
Group stage draw and venues
Group A (Rome/Baku): Turkey, Italy (hosts), Wales, Switzerland
Group B (Copenhagen/St. Petersburg): Denmark (hosts), Finland, Belgium, Russia (hosts)
Group C (Amsterdam/Bucharest): Netherlands (hosts), Ukraine, Austria, North Macedonia
Group D (London/Glasgow): England (hosts), Croatia, Scotland (hosts), Czech Republic
Group E (Seville/St Petersburg): Spain (hosts), Sweden, Poland, Slovakia
Group F (Munich/Budapest): Hungary (hosts), Portugal (title holders), France, Germany (hosts)
24 nations. 51 games. 1 winner.
More or less all of Europe’s finest national football teams are participating in the tournament including a couple of exciting EURO debutants as well.
In Group A, we are looking forward to seeing football mastodont, and multiple EURO winners, Italy, go up against the likes of Turkey and Switzerland as well as the semifinalists from EURO 2016, Wales.
The European football powerhouse Belgium, who won every single game in the qualification, competes in Group B against Russia, Denmark and the interesting EURO football first-timers from Finland, who made it through the EURO qualifiers.
In Group C, proclaimed group favourites Netherlands will have to play Ukraine, unbeaten in the qualification, as well as Austria and EURO newcomers North Macedonia for the top spot.
We are truly excited about the ‘Battle of Britain’ in Group D, with England and Scotland pitting themselves against each other. Here, we also have a gifted Croatian side and the Czech Republic competing for a place in the round of 16.
Things are also looking very interesting in Group E, with Spain, back-to-back winners of the European Championship in 2008 and 2012, looking to secure 1st place over Sweden, Poland and Slovakia.
Group F is, without a shred of doubt, this year’s dynamite group with the great football nations of Germany and France clashing with each other, as well as titleholders Portugal, in order to claim further advancement into the knockout phase. But who knows, maybe Hungary will surprise us? One thing we know for sure is that anything can happen at the EURO’s (throwback to 2004, when Greece caused a global sensation being crowned as European champions).
EURO 2020 fixtures
A whole month of football awaits us with up to 4 games a day! Below you will find the match schedule for the EURO group stages, the knockout phase, quarter- and semifinals as well as the big finale.
Group stage schedule
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 9pm (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: Czech Republic vs England; Kick-off 8pm (London)
Group D: Croatia vs Scotland; Kick-off 8pm (Glasgow)
Wednesday June 23
Group E: Slovakia vs Spain; Kick-off 5pm (Seville)
Group E: Sweden vs Poland; Kick-off 5pm (St Petersburg)
Group F: Germany vs Hungary; Kick-off 8pm (Munich)
Group F: Portugal vs France; Kick-off 8pm (Budapest)
Knockout phase schedule
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)
EURO 2020 quarterfinals
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)
EURO 2020 semifinals
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)
When is the EURO 2020 final?
Sunday July 11
Kick-off 8pm (Wembley, London)
All will be settled in the final on Wembley, July 11.
5 years ago, in the EURO 2016 final, Portugal clinched the major trophy and the title as European Champions after an intense final against the current World Champions from France. In extra time, substitute target man Eder appeared out of nowhere and struck the ball low in the far-right corner. By doing so, he sent all Portuguese football fans into football heaven. Now, it is finally time to see if another team is up for the challenge and ready to be crowned as the new football kings of Europe. We can’t wait!
Check out Unisport's EURO 2020 page right here
