UEFA Euro 2024

On 8 March 2017, UEFA announced that two countries, Germany and Turkey, had announced their intentions to host the tournament before the deadline of 3 March 2017. The host was chosen by the UEFA Executive Committee in a confidential ballot, needing only a simple majority of votes to win. If the votes were equal, the final decision rested with UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin. Out of the 20 members of the UEFA Executive Committee, Reinhard Grindel (Germany) and Servet Yardımcı (Turkey) could not vote because they were ineligible. Lars-Christer Olsson (Sweden) was also absent due to illness. In total, 17 members were able to vote. The host was selected on 27 September 2018 in Nyon, Switzerland. Germany initially planned to fully host Euro 2020, although it had not announced any firm interest by May 2012. == Venues ==

Germany had a wide selection of stadiums that met UEFA's minimum capacity requirement of 30,000 seats for European Championship matches. The Olympiastadion in Berlin was the largest stadium at UEFA Euro 2024. It hosted the final of the tournament, along with three group-stage matches, a round of 16 match, and a quarterfinal. Of the ten venues selected for Euro 2024, nine were used for the 2006 FIFA World Cup: Berlin, Dortmund, Munich, Cologne, Stuttgart, Hamburg, Leipzig, Frankfurt, and Gelsenkirchen. Düsseldorf, which was not used in 2006 but had previously been used for the 1974 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 1988, served as the tenth venue; conversely, Hanover, Nuremberg and Kaiserslautern, host cities in 2006 (in addition to 1974 and 1988 in Hanover's case), were not used for this championship. Munich, the site of the first game of UEFA Euro 2024, was also a host city at the multi-national UEFA Euro 2020 tournament, hosting four matches (three involving Germany) in front of a greatly reduced number of spectators due to COVID-19 restrictions. During the tournament, all but Arena AufSchalke were known by different names, mainly due to the stadia sponsorship prohibition. Various other stadiums, such as those in Bremen and Mönchengladbach, were not selected. The area with the highest number of venues at UEFA Euro 2024 was the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with four of the ten host cities (Dortmund, Düsseldorf, Gelsenkirchen and Cologne). Team base camps Each team chose a "team base camp" for its stay between the matches. The teams trained and resided in these locations throughout the tournament, travelling to games staged away from their bases. The "team base camp" needed to be in Germany. Ticketing Tickets for the venues were sold directly by UEFA via its website, or distributed by the football associations of the 24 finalists. Ticket sales started on 3 October 2023. More than 80% of the 2.7 million tickets for the 51 tournament matches were available for the fans of the participating teams and the general public. Fans of each participating team allocated 10,000 tickets for group stage matches, 6,000 tickets for the round of 16 and quarter-finals, 7,000 for the semi-finals, and 10,000 for the final match. Over 50 million applications from 206 countries were received. Besides fans of Germany, most tickets were requested by fans supporting Turkey, Hungary, England, Albania and Croatia. Prices ranged from €30 (for a seat behind the goal at a group match) to €2000 (for a Prime Seat in the main stand at the final). == Qualification ==

As the hosts, Germany qualified for the tournament automatically. The 23 remaining spots were determined by a qualifying tournament; 20 spots were decided by the direct qualification of the winners and runners-up of the 10 qualifying groups, with the remaining three spots decided by play-offs. Places in the play-offs were given to the teams that performed the best in the 2022–23 UEFA Nations League who did not already qualify via the main qualifying tournament. The draw for the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying group stage was held on 9 October 2022 at the Festhalle in Frankfurt. The qualifying group stage took place from March to November 2023, while the three play-offs were held in March 2024. Qualified teams Of the 24 teams that qualified for the tournament, 19 had participated in the previous edition. These included the defending champions Italy and runners-up England, as well as 2022 World Cup runners-up France and bronze medalist Croatia. Portugal was the only team to qualify with a flawless record, whilst France, England, Belgium, Hungary, and Romania also qualified without a loss. Albania and Romania returned after missing out on Euro 2020, the former qualifying for only their second major tournament. Serbia and Slovenia both returned for the first time since Euro 2000, with Serbia qualifying for the first time since Serbia and Montenegro became separate nations, and Slovenia qualifying for their fourth major tournament as an independent nation. Georgia beat Greece on penalties in the play-offs to qualify for their first-ever tournament since gaining independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, also becoming the only debutants for this edition and ensuring every final tournament since the inaugural Euro 1960 saw at least one new team make their debut. Notable absentees included Sweden, Russia, and Wales. Sweden failed to reach the finals for the first time since Euro 1996 and also failed to qualify for their second major tournament in a row, having missed out on the 2022 World Cup. Russia, who were regulars at finals since Euro 2000, were barred from the qualifiers altogether in the aftermath of the country's invasion of Ukraine. Wales, who reached the knockout stages at the previous two editions, including the semi-finals at Euro 2016, lost to Poland on penalties in the play-offs. Having made their debut at the previous edition, both North Macedonia and Finland failed to qualify for this edition. Disqualification of Russia At a meeting of the UEFA Executive Committee in Hvar, Croatia, on 20 September 2022, it was confirmed that Russia would be excluded from qualifying for Euro 2024, reaffirming the suspension of all Russian teams following the country's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and making this the first European Championship finals Russia would miss since 2000. ==Final draw==

The final tournament draw took place on 2 December 2023, 18:00 CET, at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg. The teams were seeded in accordance with the overall European Qualifiers rankings. Hosts Germany were automatically seeded into pot 1, and they were placed in position A1. The three play-off winners were not known at the time of the draw, and the teams participating in those play-offs, scheduled to be held in March 2024, were placed into pot 4 for the draw. The draw was disrupted by various sexual noises whilst it was taking place, as the result of a prankster. • Pot 1: Germany (Host), group winners ranked 1–5 • Pot 2: Group winners ranked 6–10, group runner-up ranked 1 (6–11 overall) • Pot 3: Group runners-up ranked 2–7 (12–17 overall) • Pot 4: Group runners-up ranked 8–10 (18–20 overall), play-off winners A–C (identity unknown at the time of the draw) Seeding Draw ==Squads==

The maximum squad size of the teams was increased from the original quota of 23 to 26 players. Teams had to provide the list containing a minimum of 23 players and a maximum of 26 by the deadline of 7 June. ==Match officials==

In April 2024, 19 refereeing teams were selected to take charge of the 51 matches at the tournament, including an Argentine team selected as part of a co-operation agreement between the UEFA and CONMEBOL confederations. In addition, UEFA announced twenty video match officials and twelve support match officials (who would act as fourth official or reserve assistant referee). ==Group stage==

UEFA announced the tournament schedule on 10 May 2022, which included kick-off times only for the opening match, semi-finals, and final. The kick-off times for all other matches were announced on 2 December 2023 following the draw. Group winners, runners-up and the best four third-placed teams advanced to the round of 16. All times are local, CEST (UTC+2). Tiebreakers If two or more teams were equal on points on completion of the group matches, the following tie-breaking criteria were applied: • Higher number of points obtained in the matches played between the teams in question; • Superior goal difference resulting from the matches played between the teams in question; • Higher number of goals scored in the matches played between the teams in question; • If, after having applied criteria 1 to 3, teams still have an equal ranking, criteria 1 to 3 are reapplied exclusively to the matches between the teams who are still level to determine their final rankings. If this procedure does not lead to a decision, criteria 5 to 9 will apply; • Superior goal difference in all group matches; • Higher number of goals scored in all group matches; • Lower disciplinary points total in all group matches (1 point for a single yellow card, 3 points for a red card regardless whether it was a direct red card or two yellow cards, 4 points for a yellow card followed by a direct red card); • Higher position in the European Qualifiers overall ranking, or drawing of lots if hosts Germany had been involved in the tiebreaker. However, the normal criteria did not apply if on the last round of the group stage, two teams who were facing each other were tied in points, goal difference and goals scored ended their match in a draw, and no other teams were tied; in that case, their ranking would be determined by a penalty shoot-out. Notes Group A ---- ---- Group B ---- ---- Group C ---- ---- Group D ---- ---- Group E ---- ---- Group F ---- ---- Ranking of third-placed teams ==Knockout stage==

In the knockout stage, if a match was level at the end of normal playing time, extra time was played (two periods of 15 minutes each). If still tied after extra time, the match was decided by a penalty shoot-out. As with every tournament since UEFA Euro 1984, there was no third place play-off. All times listed are Central European Summer Time (UTC+2) Bracket Round of 16 ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- Quarter-finals ---- ---- ---- Semi-finals ---- Final ==Statistics==

Goalscorers Awards UEFA Team of the Tournament UEFA's technical observer team was given the objective of naming a team of the best eleven players from the tournament. Six players from the winning Spanish squad were named in the team. Player of the Tournament The Player of the Tournament award was given to Rodri, who was chosen by UEFA's technical observers. • Rodri Young Player of the Tournament The Young Player of the Tournament award, open to players born on or after 1 January 2002, was given to Lamine Yamal, as chosen by UEFA's technical observers. • Lamine Yamal – Top Scorer Unlike in previous editions, the "Alipay Top Scorer" award, given to the top scorer of the tournament, was allowed to be shared among multiple players, whereas previous installments used assists and minutes played as tiebreakers. The award was thus given to each of the six players who scored three goals in the tournament: Cody Gakpo, Harry Kane, Georges Mikautadze, Jamal Musiala, Dani Olmo, and Ivan Schranz. • Cody Gakpo • Harry Kane • Georges Mikautadze • Jamal Musiala • Dani Olmo • Ivan Schranz (3 goals each) Goal of the Tournament The Goal of the Tournament was decided by a panel of UEFA technical observers. On 16 July 2024, UEFA announced that Spanish winger Lamine Yamal's semi-final goal against France had been chosen as the best goal of the tournament. • Lamine Yamal (goal vs France) Prior announcing Yamal's goal as the Goal of the Tournament, UEFA published an extensive list of goals nominalised for the award. The following three goals, according to UEFA's ranking, were: • Jude Bellingham (goal vs Slovakia during the round of 16) • Xherdan Shaqiri (goal vs Scotland during the group stage) • Nicolae Stanciu (goal vs Ukraine during the group stage) '''Fans' Goal of the Tournament''' The Fans' Goal of the Tournament was decided by online voting. A total 10 goals were in the shortlist, chosen by UEFA technical observers. On 20 July 2024, after an open vote on the official Euro 2024 website, UEFA announced that Turkish defender Mert Müldür's group stage goal against Georgia had been chosen as the fans' goal of the tournament. • Mert Müldür (goal vs Georgia) Discipline A player or team official was automatically suspended for the next match for the following offences: Records • After securing a record fourth title, Spain became the first European Championship winners to win all their group matches twice (having done so previously in 2008), with France (1984) and Italy (2021) the only other teams to have achieved this once. This statistic refers to the European Championship since 1980, with the inclusion of the group stage. • Spain also became the first European team to win all seven matches at European championship without needing a penalty shoot-out. France also won every match without needing a penalty shoot-out in 1984, albeit while playing only five matches. • Spain's 15 goals broke the record for most goals scored by a team at a single European Championship. The record was previously held by France, scoring 14 goals in 1984. Ten different players scored for Spain, another record. • With his goal in Spain's semi-final against France, Yamal then became the youngest goalscorer in the history of the European Championship, aged 16 years and 362 days. The previous youngest was Switzerland's Johan Vonlanthen, aged 18 years and 141 days in 2004, also against France. • Yamal's appearance in the final, one day after his 17th birthday, also made him the youngest player to both appear in and also win a UEFA European Championship final. Previously, the youngest player to both appear in and also win a UEFA European Championship final was Portugal's Renato Sanches, in 2016, aged 18 years and 328 days. • Nedim Bajrami set the record for fastest goal scored in European Championship history, scoring in Albania's opener against Italy after just 23 seconds. This shattered the previous record of 67 seconds, set by Russia's Dmitri Kirichenko in 2004. Kirichenko's goal was then pushed into third place following Merih Demiral's goal for Turkey against Austria in the round of 16, coming after only 58 seconds. The fourth-fastest goal was also recorded, when Youri Tielemans scored for Belgium against Romania after only 74 seconds. • Portugal's Pepe became the oldest player to make an appearance at the European Championship, aged 41 years and 130 days in his side's quarter-final match against France. Hungary goalkeeper Gabor Király, the previous record holder, was aged 40 years and 86 days when he faced Belgium in the round of 16 in 2016. Before Pepe, the oldest outfield player was Lothar Matthäus, who won his 150th and final cap for Germany aged 39 years and 91 days in 2000. • Cristiano Ronaldo extended his own record for the most tournaments featured in, appearing in his sixth European Championship. • Luka Modrić became the oldest player to score a goal at the European Championship, aged 38 years and 289 days in Croatia's group stage match against Italy. The previous record was held by Austria's Ivica Vastić, who was 38 years and 257 days old when he scored against Poland in 2008. • Kevin Csoboth set the record for the latest regulation time goal in tournament history, scoring for Hungary against Scotland in the 10th minute after the 90-minute mark. • The final Group F game between Czech Republic and Turkey broke the record for the most number of cards shown in total in a single match. 19 cards (17 yellow and 2 red) were shown (Czech Republic receiving 7 of them and Turkey 12), surpassing the previous record of 10 shown in the Euro 2016 final between Portugal and France. • Portuguese goalkeeper Diogo Costa made three saves in the round of 16 penalty shoot-out against Slovenia, breaking the European Championship record for most saves in one penalty shoot-out, while Slovenia became the first team in World Cup or European Championship history to miss all of their penalties. ==Marketing==

City Hall Branding The official logo was unveiled on 5 October 2021, during a ceremony at the Olympiastadion in Berlin. The logo depicted the Henri Delaunay Trophy with 24 coloured slices around the trophy representing the 24 participating nations, and the ellipse reflected the shape of the Olympiastadion. The coloured slices also represent the flags of all 55 UEFA member nations. In addition, each of the ten host cities had their own unique logo, featuring the following local sights: • Berlin: Brandenburg Gate • Cologne: Cologne Cathedral • Dortmund: Dortmund U-Tower • Düsseldorf: , Rheinturm and Rheinkniebrücke • Frankfurt: Römer • Gelsenkirchen: Musiktheater im Revier • Hamburg: Elbphilharmonie • Leipzig: Monument to the Battle of the Nations • Munich: Frauenkirche • Stuttgart: Fernsehturm Stuttgart The official slogan of the tournament was "United by Football. [German:] " (English: United in the heart of Europe). The slogan was chosen to promote diversity and inclusion. Merchandise In November 2023, it was announced that EA Sports had picked up the rights for the UEFA Euro 2024 video game, and that the Euro 2024 downloadable update would be coming to EA Sports FC 24, EA Sports FC Mobile, and EA Sports FC Online in the summer of 2024. Released on 11 June, the update featured a full tournament mode, local and online friendlies, and a Euro-themed single player career mode, called "Lead Your Nation", each including all of the teams, players, and tournament venues. From Euro 2024, Fanatics would be controlling the e-commerce, event retail and licensing of UEFA National Team competitions until Euro 2028. Topps, also owned by Fanatics, was the official sticker and trading card partner of the tournament, marking the end of Panini's association with UEFA which began in 1976. Stickers were produced for all the Euro 2024 teams, including the teams that did not qualify for the qualifying play-offs. These stickers could be sold, collected or traded. Official song In December 2023, Italian DJ group Meduza, American pop rock band OneRepublic and German singer Kim Petras were all announced as the official music artists of the tournament. However, in March 2024, it was announced that Petras had withdrawn from production due to scheduling issues, and was replaced by German singer Leony. The official song, "Fire", was released on 10 May 2024. It was performed live by the three music artists at the tournament's closing ceremony before the final on 14 July 2024. Broadcasting rights The International Broadcast Centre (IBC) was located at the halls of the Leipzig Trade Fair in Leipzig, Germany. Unlike the previous two tournaments, UEFA discontinued 4K ultra-high-definition broadcasts due to technical constraints, and amid lukewarm interest in the format among European broadcasters in comparison to high-dynamic-range (HDR) colour. Sponsorship UEFA, in collaboration with AIM Sport, used virtual advertising for the first time in the history of Euros, having three different types of sponsorship besides the Global sponsors, one pack for Germany, one for the United States and another for the Chinese market. Official global sponsors • Adidas • Alibaba Group (Alipay, AliExpress, Antom and WorldFirst brands) • Atos • Betano • Booking.com • BYD Auto • Coca-Cola • Engelbert Strauss • Hisense • Lidl • Qatar Airways • Unilever • Visit Qatar • Vivo Mobile Official Germany national sponsors • Deutsche Bahn • Deutsche Telekom • Ergo Group • Wiesenhof ==Symbols==

Mascot The official UEFA Euro 2024 mascot was unveiled on 20 June 2023 at the Germany vs Colombia international friendly in Gelsenkirchen. The mascot was a teddy bear with shorts on. A public vote was used to select the name of the mascot, with options being "Albärt", "Bärnardo", "Bärnheart" and "Herzi von Bär", all referencing the German word for bear (Bär). Results were made public on 5 July, with the mascot's name announced to be "Albärt", getting 32% of the votes. Unofficially the event even has an animal oracle following in the footsteps of Paul the Octopus: Bubi the Elephant, who "predicted" Germany's opening round against Scotland with her initial kick through a makeshift goal. Match ball -version of the match ball "Fussballliebe". The official match ball of the tournament, "Fussballliebe", was unveiled by UEFA and Adidas on 15 November 2023. Translated from the German as "football love", it featured black wing shapes with red, blue, orange and green edges and curves to showcase the qualified nations' vibrancy to the tournament, and the love that fans around the world give to football. Created with sustainable organic materials, ==Controversies and incidents==

Pitch invasions, thrown projectiles, and other interference The Group F match between Turkey and Portugal was interrupted four times by pitch invaders trying to take a selfie with Cristiano Ronaldo. Two others invaded the pitch right after the final whistle. Additional pitch invasions happened during the game between Albania and Italy, one during the game between Romania and Ukraine, and one during the round of 16 game between Romania and the Netherlands. During another pitch invasion after the semi-final between Spain and France, a security guard chasing the invader accidentally slid into Spanish striker Álvaro Morata, who suffered an injury as a consequence. Several players and managers complained about fans throwing reusable plastic cups on the pitch, on occasion hitting players, particularly when taking a corner kick. Other objects were thrown as well, and Kevin De Bruyne had a laser pointer shone in his eye in one match. Barnabás Varga injury During the second half of the Group A fixture between Scotland and Hungary, Hungarian striker Barnabás Varga was left unconscious after a collision with Scottish goalkeeper Angus Gunn, landing in a fencing response. It was later revealed that Varga had suffered from a concussion and sustained multiple fractured cheekbones. Rapidly following the incident, medics made their way toward the scene and protective sheets were held around Varga. However, the stretcher bearers were seen walking toward the player, rather than running, prompting dismay from players, fans, and staff alike. Hungary captain Dominik Szoboszlai and fellow player Endre Botka proceeded to run with the stretcher in an attempt to speed up the process. Following the injury, the captain expressed his frustration, stating that the medical staff did not react quick enough, with hopes that "everyone can save a few seconds and save a life." This was rebutted by UEFA, who claimed that the coordination between the on-site medical staff was "professional", with "no delay in the treatment of and assistance to the player." The match was resumed after 10 minutes, as Hungary went on to win by a score of 0–1 following a stoppage time goal from Kevin Csoboth, with Varga making a full recovery after undergoing surgery. Balkan incidents During the group stage, several controversies came up due to the behaviour of various Balkan fans and players. Albania and Serbia were both fined €10,000 after their fans displayed irredentist symbols; Serbian fans displayed maps of Kosovo as being a part of Serbia while Albanian fans displayed maps of Greater Albania. Serbia threatened to quit the tournament if UEFA did not take action against Croatia and Albania after some of their fans chanted anti-Serbian slogans during the match, such as Ubij ubij ubij Srbina ("Kill kill kill the Serb"); an investigation was later launched into Croatia. After the group stage game between Albania and Croatia, Mirlind Daku led the Albanian supporters in chanting anti-Macedonian and anti-Serbian slogans, and Albania was fined €47,250 and Daku was banned for two games. Kosovar journalist Arlind Sadiku was banned after making the crossed hands gesture towards Serbian fans during the Serbia and England game. The celebration was criticised by German interior minister Nancy Faeser, while Nationalist Movement Party president Devlet Bahçeli shared his support for the celebration. Demiral also posted a photo on his Twitter account of him performing the celebration along with the caption of: "How happy is the one who says I am a Turk!". UEFA opened an investigation on Demiral the following day before later handing him a two-match ban, meaning he would miss Turkey's quarter-final match against the Netherlands, as well as their first 2024–25 UEFA Nations League match as they were eliminated in the quarter-finals. Ahead of Turkey's following match against the Netherlands, Turkish supporters were seen making the controversial hand gesture en masse while on their way to the stadium as well as inside the stadium. UEFA's ban on Demiral was criticised by some Turkish media outlets as hypocritical and of double standard by drawing comparisons with the lighter penalty received by Jude Bellingham for offensive gesture made at the same tournament and with political gestures made by footballers of other nations which had gone unpunished in previous editions of the tournament. Top Coffee bombing On 14 July 2024, Al-Shabaab bombed Top Coffee in Mogadishu, Somalia, where spectators were watching the Euro 2024 final between England and Spain. The attack killed more than ten people and injured 20 others. Spanish celebrations Following Spain's victory in the final, videos showed some Spanish players (notably Álvaro Morata and Rodri) celebrating with offensive chants towards Gibraltar, a British Overseas Territory. The Gibraltar FA stated they would file a complaint with UEFA. UEFA eventually suspended both Morata and Rodri for Spain's upcoming match in the 2024–25 UEFA Nations League against Serbia. Referee performance in the quarter-final Germany – Spain The decisions of referee Anthony Taylor in the quarter-final between Germany and Spain were controversial. On the one hand, Toni Kroos could have received two yellow cards in the first minutes of the game, and on the other hand, a penalty for Germany could have been awarded in extra time after a handball by Spaniard Marc Cucurella in his own penalty area. In its internal review of the tournament, the UEFA Referees Committee came to the conclusion that a penalty should have been awarded. ==See also==