For European football fans it is that time of year again when the best of Europe gather a fight it out to be crowned European Champions.

Euro 2024 is taking place in Germany between Friday, June 14, and Sunday, July 14, following only a three year gap since the last European Championship held in eleven countries in 2021.

Which is still officially referred to as Euro 2020, but was delayed by a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, so took place in 2021.

The tournament is being hosted by Germany alone compared to previous tournaments where there were two host countries or eleven as happened in 2021.

There are ten cities and stadiums where the matches will be played with Bayern Munich’ Allianz Arena hosting the opening game and Berlin’ Olympiastadion, home to Hertha, the final.

• Munich – Allianz Arena/Munich Football Arena

• Cologne – Cologne Stadium

• Berlin – Olympiastadion

• Dortmund – BVB Stadion Dortmund/Signal Iduna Park 

• Düsseldorf – Dusseldorf Arena/Merkur Spiel-Arena

• Frankfurt – Frankfurt Arena/Waldstadion/Deutsche Bank Park

• Gelsenkirchen – Arena AufSchalke/Veltins Arena

• Hamburg – Volksparkstadion

• Leipzig – Leipzig Stadium/Red Bull Arena

• Stuttgart – Stuttgart Arena/MHPArena/Mercedes-Benz Arena/Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion/Century Stadium

The tournament starts as a round robin group phase with the teams playing three games before it heads into the knockout rounds.

The twenty four teams have been split up into six groups with the top two guaranteed to make the next phase with

GROUP A

GERMANY – Player to watch: Florian Wirtz.

SWITZERLAND – Player to watch: XherdanShaqiri.

SCOTLAND – Player to watch: Scott McTominay.

HUNGARY – Player to watch: Dominik Szoboszlai.

Fixtures:

14 June – Germany vs Scotland (Munich, 20:00)

15 June – Hungary vs Switzerland (Cologne, 14:00)

19 June – Germany vs Hungary (Stuttgart, 17:00)

19 June – Scotland vs Switzerland (Cologne, 20:00)

23 June – Switzerland vs Germany (Frankfurt, 20:00)

23 June – Scotland vs Hungary (Stuttgart, 20:00)

GROUP B

SPAIN – Player to watch: Rodri

ITALY – Player to watch: Nicolo Barella

CROATIA – Player to watch: Luka Modric

ALBANIA – Player to watch: Jasir Asani

Fixtures:

15 June – Spain vs Croatia (Berlin, 17:00)

15 June – Italy vs Albania (Dortmund, 20:00)

19 June – Croatia vs Albania (Hamburg, 14:00)

20 June – Spain vs Italy (Gelsenkirchen, 20:00)

24 June – Croatia vs Italy (Leipzig, 20:00)

24 June – Albania vs Spain (Düsseldorf, 20:00)

GROUP C

ENGLAND – Player to watch: Harry Kane

DENMARK – Player to watch: Rasmus Hojlund

SERBIA – Player to watch: Aleksandar Mitrovic

SLOVENIA – Player to watch: Benjamin Sesko

Fixtures:

16 June – Slovenia vs Denmark (Stuttgart, 17:00)

16 June – Serbia vs England (Gelsenkirchen, 20:00)

20 June – Slovenia vs Serbia (Munich, 14:00)

20 June – Denmark vs England (Frankfurt, 17:00)

25 June – England vs Slovenia (Cologne, 20:00)

25 June – Denmark vs Serbia (Munich, 20:00)

GROUP D

FRANCE – Player to watch: Kylian Mbappe

NETHERLANDS – Player to watch: Virgil van Dijk

AUSTRIA – Player to watch: Marcel Sabitzer

POLAND – Player to watch: Robert Lewandowski

Fixtures:

16 June – Poland vs Netherlands (Hamburg, 14:00)

17 June – Austria vs France (Düsseldorf, 20:00)

21 June – Poland vs Austria (Berlin, 17:00)

21 June – Netherlands vs France (Leipzig, 20:00)

25 June – Netherlands vs Austria (Berlin, 17:00)

25 June – France vs Poland (Dortmund, 17:00)

GROUP E

BELGIUM – Player to watch: Kevin De Bruyne.

UKRAINE – Player to watch: Artem Dovbyk. 

ROMANIA – Player to watch: George Puscas.

SLOVAKIA – Player to watch: Ondrej Duda.

Fixtures:

17 June – Romania vs Ukraine (Munich, 14:00)

17 June – Belgium vs Slovakia (Frankfurt, 17:00)

21 June – Slovakia vs Ukraine (Düsseldorf, 14:00)

22 June – Belgium vs Romania (Cologne, 20:00)

26 June – Slovakia vs Romania (Frankfurt, 17:00)

26 June – Ukraine vs Belgium (Stuttgart, 17:00)

GROUP F

PORTUGAL – Player to watch: Cristiano Ronaldo.

TÜRKİYE – Player to watch: Hakan Calhanoglu.

CZECHIA – Player to watch: Patrik Schick.

GEORGIA – Player to watch: Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.

Fixtures:

18 June – Türkiye vs Georgia (Dortmund, 17:00)

18 June – Portugal vs Czechia (Leipzig, 20:00)

22 June – Georgia vs Czechia (Hamburg, 14:00)

22 June – Türkiye vs Portugal (Dortmund, 17:00)

26 June – Slovakia vs Romania (Frankfurt, 17:00)

26 June – Ukraine vs Belgium (Stuttgart, 17:00)

Fixtures after the Group Stages:

29 June:

38 2A vs 2B (Berlin, 17:00)

37 1A vs 2C (Dortmund, 20:00)

30 June:

40 1C vs 3D/E/F (Gelsenkirchen), 17:00)

39 1B vs 3A/D/E/F (Cologne, 20:00)

1 July:

42 2D vs 2E (Düsseldorf, 17:00)

41 1F vs 3A/B/C (Frankfurt, 20:00)

2 July:

43 1E vs 3A/B/C/D (Munich, 17:00)

44 1D vs 2F (Leipzig), 20:00)

Quarter Finals:

5 July:

45 W39 vs W37 (Stuttgart, 17:00)

46 W41 vs W42 (Hamburg, 20:00)

6 July:

48 W40 vs W38 (Düsseldorf, 17:00)

47 W43 vs W44 (Berlin, 20:00)

Semi Finals:

9 July: 49 W45 vs W46 (Munich, 20:00)

10 July: 50 W47 vs W48 (Dortmund, 20:00)

Final:

14 July: W49 vs W50 (Berlin, 20:00)

 

Gary’s Prediction: I think the winner of Euro 2024 will be Germany, I have gone for Germany as I believe the tournament being in Germany will greatly benefit them.

France also has a great chance with a lot of people tipping them to be victorious. England have a chance, but I worry about our Defence and against the better teams I think we might struggle.

In Mid-Field and Attack we have some of the best players in the competition. This is why for Top Goal Scorer I have gone for Harry Kane.