Euro 2024 kicked off on Friday and everyone here at Family F.C. is bursting with anticipation!
I mean, 4 weeks of football across the summer, what could be better?
With the first couple of games completed, it got us thinking about everything that goes into an International tournament and the different moving parts that make it one of football’s great spectacles.
So, for all you football fans out there, we have provided a breakdown of all things Euro 2024, enjoy!
Hosts Germany will hope for a far better showing than the 2020 World Cup, where they exited at the group stages. With an exciting crop of youngsters coming through, including Florion Wirtz who missed that World Cup through injury, they will have high expectations of progressing to the latter stages and winning the trophy on home soil.
Somewhat of an upset for Euro 2020, which took place in 2021 due to Covid-19, Italy were not heavily fancied to win the tournament at the start but proved the doubters wrong and took home the trophy after a penalty shootout victory over England at Wembley.
Italy defeat England in the dreaded penalty shootout to claim the Euro 2020 championship
Cologne Stadium - Home of FC Köln and host of the Europa League Final in 2020, this 43,000-seater stadium will feature England’s final group game against Slovenia on June 25th.
BVB Stadion Dortmund - For the football purists out there, this venue will spring to mind when you think of grounds with ‘aura’. Seeing Borussia Dortmund’s yellow wall live is one of this writer's favourite footballing memories and with a 62,000 capacity, the stadium is the third largest in the tournament.
Düsseldorf Arena - Home of Fortuna Düsseldorf, who play in Germany’s second division, 47,000 fans will be packed into this stadium for one of the Quarter Finals on July 6th.
Frankfurt Arena - Built in 1925, this 47,000-seater stadium will host England’s crunch tie with Denmark which could go a long way in deciding the order of group C.
Olympiastadion Berlin - With a tournament-topping capacity of over 71,000, the Olympic Stadium in Berlin has hosted some of the sport’s biggest matches, and will be no different this summer.
Alongside three group games, this historic ground will also showcase the final of Euro 2024 on July 14th.
Munich Football Arena - Known to most fans as the Allianz Arena and home of German juggernauts Bayern Munich, this 66,000-seater stadium is the second biggest at Euro 2024 and certainly one of the most impressive.
The Allianz Arena will host Germany’s opening game and the semi-final on July 9th, where the home nation will hope to be back.
Arena AufShalke - Located in the coal mining town Gelsenkirchen and home of German giants Shalke, this stadium may bring back bad memories for England fans, as we lost in the 2006 World Cup quarter-finals to Portugal after Rooney’s infamous stamp and the Ronaldo Wink. With a capacity of 50,000, this ground will feature a huge group game between Spain and Italy.
Hamburg - Host of the 2010 Uefa Cup Final between Athletico Madrid and Fulham, Hamburg’s beautiful 49,000-seater stadium was refurbished and re-opened in 2000 and has since been used for numerous games including Germany’s home World Cup in 2006.
Leipzig Stadium - RB Leipzig’s home, opened in 2004, is one of the more recent stadiums at the tournament, and also the smallest, with a capacity of 40,000. That will probably feel more like 80,000 when it hosts the blockbuster Group D game between France and Holland.
Stuttgart Arena - 51,000 fans will be packed into Stuggart’s home ground for four group games and a quarter-final. This stadium also hosted the 1998 Champions League final, where Real Madrid secured what now seems a measly 7th European crown against Juventus.
Jude Bellingham (England): Throughout history, our nation's hopes and dreams usually fall on the shoulders of one player. Gazza, Beckham, Rooney and Kane have all carried the burden with varied degrees of success, however, Jude Bellingham may bear the heaviest load as the star man in an England team with genuine expectations of bringing glory to our shores for the first time since 1966.
A stellar debut campaign for Real Madrid, with 23 goals and 13 assists, has only heightened that pressure on the 20-year-old's shoulders.
Florion Wirtz (Germany): Another player with huge pressure from an expectant country, Germany’s Florion Wirtz was a star player in a Bayern Leverkusen side that went unbeaten in the Bundesliga and collected a domestic double. 18 goals and 20 assists mean the 21-year-old attacking midfielder is coming into Euro 2024 in red-hot form.
Expect him to be in the conversation for the player of the tournament.
Lamine Yamal (Spain): Can you remember what you were doing at 16? Lamine Yamal will certainly never forget as he not only became a regular for Barcelona on the RW but is also set to break the record for the youngest player ever to represent their country at a Euros when he will likely take the field for Spain’s opening game against Croatia. Yamal is not just a youngster coming through the ranks either, with 17 goal involvements for Barcelona last season and 2 assists for Spain against Brazil, he may not forget this year but we have a feeling we also will never forget the name Lamine Yamal.
Set to break the record for the youngest player ever to represent their country at a Euros
18 UEFA officials from all over Europe will take charge of the Euro 2024 matches alongside a refereeing team from Argentina, as part of a deal between UEFA and the South American governing body CONMEBOL. Slavko Vinčić (Slovenia), who refereed the 2024 Champions League final will be among the contingent and will have high hopes of being the man in the middle for the Euro 2024 final on July 14th.
