Every four years, the best football (soccer) teams in Europe gather to participate in the UEFA European Football Championship. This year’s UEFA 2020 Euro Cup or simply Euro 2020 is scheduled to take place from June 12 to July July 2020. This elite tournament will feature 24 of Europe’s best football teams competing for the right to call themselves the best football club in Europe.
Where is Euro 2020?
To commemorate the 60th birthday of Euro 2020, the UEFA decided to forego having a solitary host country in favor of playing all preliminaries matches across 12 Euro 2020 host countries. This year’s Euro 2020 host cities will include (in alphabetical order):
Amsterdam (Netherlands) – Johan Cruyff Arena
Baku (Azerbaijan) – Olympic Stadium
Bilbao (Spain) – San Mamés
Bucharest (Romania) – Arena Națională
Budapest (Hungary) – Puskás Aréna
Copenhagen (Denmark) – Parken Stadium
Dublin )Ireland) – Aviva Stadium
Glasgow (Scotland) – Hampden Stadium
London (England) – Wembley Stadium
Munich (Germany) – Allianz Arena
Rome (Italy) – Stadio Olimpico
Saint Petersburg (Russia) – Krestovsky Stadium
As the tournament action winds down to the semifinals and finals, the action will move exclusively to Wembley Stadium in London, England where spectator capacity is 90,000.
Tournament Format
In October and November of 2019, fifty-five invitees lined up to play qualifying matches for the European Cup 2020. When everything was completed by mid November, twenty teams were left standing. Subsequently, the 20 participant with 4 clubs TBD were divided into 6 groups of 4 countries each.
Moving forward, each team will be required to play all other teams in its group. The teams with the best and second best head-to-head records from each group will move on to the Round of 16 where they will be joined by the four best third place finishers from the six groups. The winners in the Round of 16 will move on to the quarterfinals. The quarterfinal winners will move on to London for semifinal matches to be played on July 7 and July 8. The semifinal winners will then move on to the Euro 2020 final match where the winner will earn the title “best football squad in Europe.” The 2020 European championship match will be played on July 12. Just in case you miss some of the games – all results can be checked at Xscores. And just in case you’d like some more fun, you can always bet online at one of the best EU online casinos.
The Groups
Here’s a list of the qualifying teams by group.
Group A: – Turkey, Italy, Wales and Switzerland
Group B: – Denmark, Finland, Belgium and Russia
Group C: – Austria, Netherlands, Ukraine and Playoff winner TBD
Group D: – Croatia, Czech Republic, England and Playoff winner TBD
Group E: – Poland, Spain, Sweden and Playoff winner TBD
Group F: – France, Germany, Portugal and Playoff winner TBD
Ticket Purchases for Soccer Euro 2020
The ticket purchasing process was set up to take place over three different time-frames. The first set of tickets went on sale to the general public from June 2019 through July 2019. The process was handled by online applications. In all, there were a record 19.3 applications received for tickets to see group matches scheduled to be played in the aforementioned venues. Recipients have already been notified.
The second set of tickets went on sale by online application during the month of December 2019 with the second application process closed by the end of the year. Tickets recipients are scheduled to be notified by email by the end of January 2020.
The third set of tickets are scheduled to go on sale via online application in April 2020. The third and last set of applications will allow fans of qualifying teams to make their purchases for the appropriate venues. The UEFA does not anticipate having any remaining tickets after April applications are processed. The only remaining option for fans who don’t get tickets will be to go through ticket agencies in their respective countries.
Ticket prices are listed as follows:
Group Stage: – Level 1 (€125 – €185), Level 2 (€75 – €125), Level 3 ( €30 – €50)
Round of 16: – Level 1 (€125 – €185), Level 2 (€75 – €125), Level 3 ( €30 – €50)
Quarterfinals: – Level 1 (€125 – €225), Level 2 (€75 – €145), Level 3 ( €30 – €75)
Semifinals: – Level 1 (€596), Level 2 (€354), Level 3 ( €195), Level 4 (€85)
Finals: – Level 1 (€945), Level 2 (€595), Level 3 ( €295), Level 4 (€95)
Note: Ticket prices through ticket agencies will be significantly higher.
2020 European Cup Contenders
This year’s European Championship 2020 brings together some of the top rated football teams in the world, each representing its respective countries to become the Euro 2020 champion. Each team will be required to submit its rosters of 23 players to UEFA officials by sometime in April.
Portugal comes into the Euro Championship 2020 as the defending champion, having beaten France 1-0 in the 2016 finals. Heading into the Euros 2020, Portugal should be in good position to defend it’s title. The Portugal National club is currently ranked 5th on the FIFA world rankings. With that said, the UEFA has Portugal seeded #13.
If Belgium can play at the level it has exhibited in tournaments over the last two years, they could be very difficult to beat. The Belgium National club is currently ranked #1 by FIFA and holds the 2020 Euro #1 seed from the UEFA.
Both Spain and Germany have won the Euro championship on three occasions with Spain winning back-to-back championships in 2008 and 2012. With Belgium holding the top seed, the remaining top 5 seeds include Italy at #2, England at #3, Germany at #4 and Spain rounding out the top 5 at #5.
To date, England has yet to finish in the top two in the Euro Cup. As the Euro 2020 hosts for the semifinals and finals, this could be the year England’s football club breaks through with a championship. A quick look at the club’s most likely roster shows the club is loaded with talent.
Over the next few months, European football fans will get online updates on Euro 2020 happenings throughout Europe. Once the rosters are set, the anticipation will reach its peak as the June start date gets closer.
