UEFA Euro 2020

UEFA Euro 2020
Tournament details
Dates June–July 2020
Teams 24 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s) 13 (in 13 host cities)

The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 or simply Euro 2020, will be the 16th edition of the UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe organized by UEFA. It will be held in thirteen cities in twelve different European countries during the middle of 2020 (with the exact date to be announced later).

Disgraced former UEFA President Michel Platini has said that the tournament being hosted in several nations is a "romantic" one-off event to celebrate the 60th "birthday" of the European Championship competition.[1] The winner will earn the right to participate in the 2021 FIFA Confederations Cup.

Bid process

Main article: UEFA Euro 2020 bids

While some countries had already expressed an interest in a UEFA Euro 2020 bid[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] on 30 June 2012, at a press conference a day before the UEFA Euro 2012 Final, UEFA President Michel Platini suggested that instead of having one host country (or joint hosting by multiple countries), Euro 2020 could be spread over "12 or 13 cities" across the continent.[10] At the time UEFA already used a similar system for the UEFA Under-17 Championship's "Elite Round" where each of the seven groups is hosted by a different country.

Pan-European format decision

On 6 December 2012 UEFA announced that the 2020 Finals would be held in multiple cities all over Europe to mark the sixtieth anniversary of the tournament.[11][12] The selection of the host cities will not mean an automatic qualifying berth is awarded to the national team of that nation.

UEFA reasoned that the pan-European staging of the tournament was the logical decision at a time of financial difficulty across Europe.[13][14] Reaction to UEFA's plan was mixed across Europe.[15] Critics have cited the expanded format (from 31 matches featuring 16 nations to 51 featuring 24) and its associated additional costs as the decisive factor for only one nation (Turkey) having put forward a serious bid.[16]

Bidding venues

The final list of bids was published by UEFA on 26 April 2014 with a decision on the hosts to be made by the UEFA Executive Committee on 19 September 2014. There were two bids for the Finals Package (of which one was successful, marked with blue for Semi-Finals and Final) and 19 bids for the Standard Package (of which 12 were successful, marked with green for Quarter-Finals and Group Stage, and yellow for Round of 16 and Group Stage).[17]

Country City Venue Capacity Package
 Azerbaijan Baku Baku National Stadium 68,700 Standard Package
 Belarus Minsk Traktar Stadium 16,500 (to be expanded to 33,000) Rejected Standard Package
 Belgium Grimbergen Eurostadium (proposed new national stadium) 50,000 (62,613 potentially) Standard Package
 Bulgaria Sofia Vasil Levski National Stadium 43,000 (to be expanded to 50,000) Rejected Standard Package
 Denmark Copenhagen Telia Parken 38,065 Standard Package
 England London Wembley Stadium 90,000 Finals Package (and withdrawn Standard Package)
 Germany Munich Allianz Arena 67,812 (to be expanded to 75,000) Standard Package (and withdrawn Finals Package)
 Hungary Budapest New Puskás Ferenc Stadium 56,000 (proposed new 68,000 stadium) Standard Package
 Ireland Dublin Aviva Stadium 51,700 Standard Package
 Israel Jerusalem Teddy Stadium 34,000 (to be expanded to 53,000) Rejected Standard Package
 Italy Rome Stadio Olimpico 72,698 Standard Package
 Macedonia Skopje Philip II Arena 33,460 Rejected Standard Package
 Netherlands Amsterdam Amsterdam Arena 53,052 (to be expanded to 55-56,000) Standard Package
 Romania Bucharest Arena Națională 55,600 Standard Package
 Russia Saint Petersburg Krestovsky Stadium 69,500 (under construction) Standard Package
 Scotland Glasgow Hampden Park 52,063 Standard Package
 Spain Bilbao San Mamés Stadium 53,332 Standard Package
 Sweden Solna, Stockholm Friends Arena 50,000 Eliminated Standard Package
 Wales Cardiff Millennium Stadium 74,500 Eliminated Standard Package

Venues

London Munich Rome Baku Saint Petersburg
Wembley Stadium Allianz Arena Stadio Olimpico Baku National Stadium Krestovsky Stadium
51°33′0″N 0°16′30″E / 51.55000°N 0.27500°E / 51.55000; 0.27500 (Wembley Stadium) 48°13′8″N 11°37′11″E / 48.21889°N 11.61972°E / 48.21889; 11.61972 (Allianz Arena) 41°56′30″N 12°27′17″E / 41.94167°N 12.45472°E / 41.94167; 12.45472 (Stadio Olimpico) 40°25′47″N 49°55′11″E / 40.42972°N 49.91972°E / 40.42972; 49.91972 (Baku National Stadium) 59°58′22″N 30°13′13″E / 59.97278°N 30.22028°E / 59.97278; 30.22028 (New Zenit Stadium)
Capacity: 90,000 Capacity: 75,000
 Capacity: 72,698
 Capacity: 68,700
 Capacity: 69,500
 
   
Bucharest Amsterdam Dublin
Arena Națională Amsterdam Arena Aviva Stadium
44°26′14″N 26°09′09″E / 44.43722°N 26.15250°E / 44.43722; 26.15250 (Arena Națională) 52°18′51″N 4°56′31″E / 52.31417°N 4.94194°E / 52.31417; 4.94194 (Amsterdam Arena) 53°20′6″N 6°13′22″W / 53.33500°N 6.22278°W / 53.33500; -6.22278 (Aviva Stadium)
Capacity: 55,600
 Capacity: 56,000
 Capacity: 51,700
     
Bilbao Budapest Grimbergen Glasgow Copenhagen
San Mamés Stadium New Puskás Ferenc Stadium Eurostadium Hampden Park Telia Parken
43°26′0″N 2°59′0″W / 43.43333°N 2.98333°W / 43.43333; -2.98333 (San Mamés Stadium) 47°29′33″N 19°3′5″E / 47.49250°N 19.05139°E / 47.49250; 19.05139 (New Puskás Ferenc Stadium) 50°51′0″N 4°21′0″E / 50.85000°N 4.35000°E / 50.85000; 4.35000 (Eurostadium) 55°49′33″N 4°15′7″W / 55.82583°N 4.25194°W / 55.82583; -4.25194 (Hampden Park) 55°42′08″N 12°34′19″E / 55.70222°N 12.57194°E / 55.70222; 12.57194 (Telia Parken)
Capacity: 53,332
 Capacity: 68,000
(new stadium)		 Capacity: 60,000
(new stadium)		 Capacity: 52,063
 Capacity: 38,065


The 13 venues were selected and announced on 19 September 2014:[18]

Qualification

There will be no automatic qualifying berth, and all 55 UEFA national teams, including the 13 national teams whose countries will stage matches, must compete in the qualifiers for the 24 places at the finals tournament.[19][20] As the host cities were appointed by UEFA in September 2014, before the qualifiers of UEFA Euro 2020, it is possible for the national teams from the host cities to fail to qualify for the finals tournament.

With the creation of the UEFA Nations League starting in 2018,[21][22][23][24][25] the 2018–19 UEFA Nations League will be linked with UEFA Euro qualifying, providing teams another chance to qualify for UEFA Euro 2020.

The main qualifying process will now begin in March 2019 instead of immediately in September 2018 following the 2018 FIFA World Cup, and will end in November 2019. The format will remain largely the same, although only 20 of the 24 spots for the finals tournament will be decided from the main qualifying process, leaving four spots still to be decided. Prior to the admission of Kosovo to UEFA in May 2016, it was announced that the 54 members at the time would be drawn into 10 groups after the completion of the UEFA Nations League (six groups of five teams and four groups of six teams, with the four UEFA Nations League Final Four participants guaranteed to be drawn into groups of five teams), with the top two teams in each group qualifying.[24][25] The qualifiers will be played on double matchdays in March, June, September, October and November 2019.[26] UEFA have not made an announcement about the structure of the tournament following Kosovo's admission.

Each Nations League division will be allocated one of the four remaining UEFA Euro 2020 places. Four teams from each division which have not already qualified for the Euro finals will compete in the play-offs for each division, to be played in March 2020. The play-off berths will be first allocated to each pool winner, and if any of the pool winners have already qualified for the Euro finals, then to the next best ranked team of the division, etc.

If in any division, there are fewer than four teams which have not already qualified for the Euro finals, the play-off berths will be allocated to the next best ranked team of the following division, etc. The winners of the play-offs for each division, to be decided by two "one-off" semi-finals (best-ranked team vs. fourth best-ranked team and second best-ranked team vs. third best-ranked team, played at home of higher-ranked teams) and one "one-off" final (venue drawn in advance between the two semi-finals winners), will join the 20 teams which have already qualified for the Euro finals. This means at least one team from each Nations League division will be guaranteed to qualify for the Euro finals.[24][25]

Schedule

Below is the proposed schedule of the 2018–19 UEFA Nations League and UEFA Euro 2020.[22][23][24][25][26]

Year Month 2018–19 UEFA Nations League UEFA Euro 2020
2018 September Group stage
(Double matchday)
October Group stage
(Double matchday)
November Group stage
(Double matchday)
2019 March Qualifying stage
(Double matchday)
June "Final four competition"
(Semi-finals and final)		 Qualifying stage
(Double matchday)
September Qualifying stage
(Double matchday)
October Qualifying stage
(Double matchday)
November Qualifying stage
(Double matchday)
2020 March Play-offs
(Semi-finals and finals)
June–July Finals tournament

References

  1. ↑ Samuel, Martin (24 May 2013). "Martin Samuel meets Michel Platini - read the FULL transcript from Sportsmail's exclusive interview with UEFA's president". Daily Mail. Retrieved 25 May 2013.
  2. ↑ "TFF Başkanı'ndan Açıklama" [TFF President Announcement] (in Turkish). Turkish Football Federation. 17 April 2012.
  3. ↑ "Scotland and Wales FAs may look to Ireland to aid Euro 2020 bid". RTÉ Sport. RTÉ. 15 May 2012.
  4. ↑ "Haalt België Euro 2020 of WK -20 binnen?" [Can Belgium host Euro 2020 or the U-20 World Cup]. belgiumsoccer.be (in Dutch). 12 April 2010. Retrieved 5 January 2012.
  5. ↑ "Drei Länder für eine Fußball-EM" [Three countries for one European Championship]. dw.de (in German). Deutsche Welle. 8 July 2010.
  6. ↑ "Bulgaria confirma: vrea sa organizeze EURO 2020 impreuna cu Romania" [Bulgaria confirms: it wants to host Euro 2020 with Romania]. HotNews.ro (in Romanian). 19 November 2007.
  7. ↑ "Niersbach: EM-Bewerbung wäre "reizvoll"" [Niersbach: Euro hosting would be "attractive"]. FIFA.com (in German) (FIFA). 4 March 2012.
  8. ↑ "România şi Ungaria vor să organizeze Euro 2020 sau 2024" [Romania and Hungary will host Euro 2020 or 2024]. România Liberă (in Romanian). 28 September 2010.
  9. ↑ "KNVB richt zich nu op binnenhalen EK 2020" [KNVB now focusing on winning Euro 2020] (in Dutch). NU.nl. 10 March 2011.
  10. ↑ "Michel Platini says Euro 2020 could be spread across continent". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 30 June 2012. Retrieved 30 June 2012.
  11. ↑ "A EURO for Europe". UEFA.org. UEFA. 6 December 2012.
  12. ↑ "European Championship: Uefa to hold 2020 finals across continent". BBC Sport. 6 December 2012. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
  13. ↑ "'EURO for Europe' means shared opportunity". UEFA.org. 6 December 2012.
  14. ↑ "Euro 2020 to be hosted across Europe, Uefa announces". The Guardian. 6 December 2012. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
  15. ↑ "Euro 2020: Michel Platini's plan polarises opinion". BBC Sport. 7 December 2012. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
  16. ↑ "Michel Platini's Euro 2020 roadshow may be coming to a city near you". The Guardian. 6 December 2012. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
  17. ↑ "19 bids received for UEFA EURO 2020". UEFA.org. 26 April 2014.
  18. ↑ "Wembley to stage UEFA EURO 2020 final". UEFA.com. 19 September 2014.
  19. ↑ "UEFA Euro 2020 Tournament Requirements" (PDF). UEFA.com.
  20. ↑ "Bids for Euro 2020 due today; tournament to be held all across Europe". NBC Sports. 12 September 2013.
  21. ↑ "UEFA Nations League receives associations' green light". UEFA.org. 27 March 2014.
  22. 1 2 "UEFA Nations League: all you need to know". UEFA.com. 27 March 2014.
  23. 1 2 "UEFA Nations League/UEFA EURO 2020 qualifying" (PDF). UEFA.com.
  24. 1 2 3 4 "UEFA Nations League format and schedule approved". UEFA.com. 4 December 2014.
  25. 1 2 3 4 "UEFA Nations League format and schedule confirmed". UEFA.org. 4 December 2014.
  26. 1 2 "UEFA Nations League and European Qualifiers competition format, 2018–2020" (PDF). UEFA.com.

External links

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