The jewel in UEFA’s international football crown will return to Germany in the heart of the continent in 2024
Having seen off the challenge of Turkey for the right to host the European Championship in 2024, Germany‘s football authorities will already be setting things in motion for staging the tournament.
It will be Germany’s second time hosting the competition after it was previously staged in what was then West Germany in 1988, and it will be the first major tournament to be held in the country since the World Cup in 2006.
The 2024 edition of the tournament will see a return to the traditional format of a single country staging affairs, with Euro 2020 (now, of course, strictly Euro 2021 following its deferment due to the coronavirus pandemic) set to be a pan-European event spanning 12 countries.
Germany have four years to get everything into working order for UEFA’s flagship international competition and, while the finer details will need to be ironed out and the qualification process is some way away, we already know which venues will be used.
Goal brings you everything you need to know about Euro 2024, including when the tournament gets started, when qualifying kicks off, stadiums and more.
Contents
- When is Euro 2024?
- When does Euro 2024 qualification start?
- What stadiums will be used at Euro 2024?
- Where will the Euro 2024 final be held?
- Teams at Euro 2024
When is Euro 2024?
Euro 2024 will be played in June and July 2024. A total of 24 teams will compete in the tournament and the draw will take place in December 2023.
When does Euro 2024 qualification start?
The qualifying stage of Euro 2024 is expected to commence in March 2023, with the draw for the qualification groups likely to be held in December 2022.
It should follow a similar process as that which existed for Euro 2016 and Euro 2020, with the two teams qualifying automatically from each of nine groups and the best third-placed team joining them.
Germany automatically qualify as hosts, in the same way as France did for Euro 2016.
The remaining four places will go to the four teams who emerge triumphant at the conclusion of the 2022-23 UEFA Nations League play-offs.
What stadiums are being used at Euro 2024?
A total of 10 different venues will be used at Euro 2024 and they are spread right across Germany, covering a number of regions.
UEFA’s tournament requirements for hosting a major tournament dictate minimum stadium capacities for European Championship games (three with a minimum capacity of 50,000, three with a minimum capacity of 40,000 and four that can house at least 30,000) and Germany boasts a wealth of such venues.
The homes of Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich (Allianz Arena) and Borussia Dortmund (Westfalenstadion), which are among the biggest in the country, are unsurprisingly on the list.
Schalke‘s Arena AufSchalke in Gelsenkirchen and Stuttgart‘s Mercedes-Benz Arena also feature in the stadium list, with the smallest stadium being Frankfurt’s Waldstadion, which holds 48,387.
Euro 2024 cities & stadiums
| City | Stadium | Capacity |
|---|---|---|
| Berlin | Olympiastadion | 74,461 |
| Cologne | RheinEnergieStadion | 49,827 |
| Dortmund | Signal Iduna Arena | 65,849 |
| Dusseldorf | Merkur Spiel-Arena | 51,031 |
| Frankfurt | Waldstadion | 48,387 |
| Gelsenkirchen | Arena AufSchalke | 54,740 |
| Hamburg | Volksparkstadion | 52,245 |
| Leipzig | Red Bull Arena | 49,539 |
| Munich | Allianz Arena | 70,076 |
| Stuttgart | Mercedes-Benz Arena | 54,697 |
It is not yet clear how exactly the venues will be allocated for group games and knock-out stage matches or when. The organisers may opt to stage games in the same group in various different parts of the country, as they did for the 2006 World Cup.
However, we can be fairly certain that it will be the biggest stadiums that will feature in the latter stages of the tournament. For example, the Allianz Arena in Munich and the Westfalenstadion in Dortmund were used for the semi-final games in the 2006 World Cup.
Where will the Euro 2024 final be held?
When Germany last hosted the European Championship back in 1988 the final was held at the old Olympiastadion in Munich, but the 2024 final will be staged at Berlin’s Olympiastadion (which also hosted the 2006 World Cup final).
Check out Goal’s in-depth look at each stadium for Euro 2024 here.
Teams at Euro 2024
The number of teams competing at the European Championship finals was increased from 16 to 24 from Euro 2016 onwards, so, unless UEFA makes another alteration, we should expect to see 24 competitors at Euro 2024.
As mentioned, Germany will be automatically given a place in the competition as hosts, but we will not know the identity of the remaining 23 teams until the qualification process is complete, which won’t be for another few years at least.
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