With the European Qualifiers now behind us, we know which teams have qualified directly for UEFA EURO 2024 in Germany in June and July. As well as the hosts, the ten group winners (Albania, Belgium, Denmark, England, France, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Türkiye, Hungary) and the ten runners-up (Austria, Croatia. Czech Republic, Italy, Netherlands, Scotland, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland) are the 21 teams who have made it to the finals already. The final three spots will be decided in the play-offs, which will consist of twelve teams divided into three groups; the semi-final will be on 21 March and the final on the 26th (the draw for this takes place in Nyon tomorrow).

Reigning champions Italy will participate in the final tournament for the eleventh time in their history. Only Germany (14) and Spain (12) have a better record of reaching the finals. The Azzurri have won it twice (level with France), in 1968 and 2020 – fewer only than Germany and Spain with three apiece – and have lost two finals, in 2000 and 2012 (only the USSR lost 3, Yugoslavia and Germany 2).

THE DRAW.  The draw for the Finals of UEFA EURO 2024 will take place in Hamburg at the Elbphilharmonie at 18:00 CET on Saturday 2 December. The 24 teams will be divided into four pots based on their standings and final points tally from qualifying. Hosts Germany are in pot one (in position A1) with the other five best-ranked teams. The other five group winners and the best-ranked runner-up (Austria, 19 points) are in pot 2, while pot 3 is comprised of the other 6 second-placed teams. Pot 4 contains the three runners-up with the lowest final points total, including Italy, and three teams who qualify through the play-offs.

Pots as follows:

Pot 1: Germany, France, Portugal, England, Belgium, Spain
Pot 2:  Denmark, Türkiye, Hungary, Albania, Romania, Austria
Pot 3:  Scotland, Netherlands, Croatia, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Slovakia
Pot 4: ITALY, Serbia, Switzerland, Play-off (3)

Following the draw, the Azzurri’s base camp in Germany will be established (team hotel, training centre and Casa Azzurri for meetings with the fans, partners and media). On 2 December in Hamburg, there will also be two workshops on EURO 2024 dedicated to media and organisation in which media operations, accreditation, team base camp and the upcoming site visits will be discussed.

UPCOMING FIXTURES FOR THE AZZURRI. The Men’s National Team will play two friendlies in the international window in March (opponents TBC). The group will then reconvene between the end of May/beginning of June once club football has concluded both at a domestic (15 May Coppa Italia final, 26 May last matchday of Serie A) and European level ( finals in the three major UEFA club competitions to be held between 19 May and 1 June). As wait to see if any Italian clubs make it to a potential final, there are currently 19 days between the end of Serie A and the start of the Euros, during which the players will have the necessary break before training camp in Italy with two friendlies before departing for Germany. This is the same timeframe as EURO 2020 (Serie A finished on 23 May and Italy played the opening game on 11 June, 19 days apart) and a far cry from the lengthy waits up until the 90s. The record wit between the end of the domestic season and the start of a summer international tournament was in 1994: 48 days wait until the World Cup in the USA.

The final 23-man squad list will be announced seven days before the tournament starts at the latest.

VENUES AND DATES. EURO 2024 will start on 14 June with the opening game in Munich, which will involve hosts Germany. The official ball for the tournament is adidas’ Fußballliebe and the tournament’s mascot is Albärt. There are eleven host cities: Berlin (Olympiastadion/ 70,000 capacity, final venue), Cologne (Cologne Stadium / 47,000), Dortmund (BVB Stadion Dortmund / 66,000), Dusseldorf (Düsseldorf Arena / 47,000), Frankfurt (Frankfurt Arena / 46,000), Gelsenkirchen (Arena AufSchalke / 50,000), Hamburg (Volksparkstadion / 50,000), Leipzig (Leipzig Stadium / 42,000), Munich (Munich Football Arena / 67,000, opening game venue), Stuttgart (Stuttgart Arena / 54,000).

The games in the six groups will take place at a varying number of venues (from 4 to 6, but only 2 for Germany’s group), geographically divided into two areas: centre-north and centre-south. In detail: group A is the one with the least amount of travel, in terms of number and distance, because it will take place between Cologne and Stuttgart (2 cities in the centre-south, within a distance between them of about 360 km), plus the opening match with Germany playing in Munich, the southernmost venue of the tournament. On the other hand, the areas in which the other groups will take place are wider: groups B, D, and F will be concentrated in the cities of the centre-north (Hamburg, Berlin, Dortmund, Dusseldorf, Leipzig, Gelsenkirchen) and there will be 6 different venues for the Group B matches, 5 for Group D, 4 for Group F. Groups C and E, on the other hand, will be engaged in five venues in the centre-south (Frankfurt, Cologne, Munich, Stuttgart, plus Gelsenkirchen for C and Dusseldorf for E).

Here is the complete breakdown

Group A: Cologne and Stuttgart (+ opening match Munich)
Group B: Hamburg, Berlin, Dortmund, Dusseldorf, Gelsenkirchen, Leipzig,
Group C: Cologne, Frankfurt, Gelsenkirchen, Munich, Stuttgart
Group D: Hamburg, Berlin, Dortmund, Dusseldorf, Leipzig
Group E: Cologne, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Munich, Stuttgart
Group F: Hamburg, Dortmund, Gelsenkirchen, Leipzig

The group stage of the tournament will take place from 14 to 26 June. The top two and the four best third-placed teams will advance to the round of 16 (two per day between 29 June and 2 July), then the decisive matches in the quarters (5 and 6 July, two per day), the semi-finals (9 and 10 July, one per day) and the final (14 July).