Preview of the Tournament for a generation.
Euro 2020 will be like no other tournament in the history of the Euros, it is played across 11 different cities in a middle of a COVID-19 pandemic. In this blog i will talk about the venues currently hosting the euros and the background they have, the 28 teams that made it to the finals in their groups and if it would be a good tournament.
On 23 April 2021, UEFA announced that Aviva Stadium (Republic of Ireland) was remove as hosts and their games moved to Krestovsky Stadium (Russia) because of a lack of guarantees regarding spectators attendance caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in the Republic of Ireland.
On 23 April 2021, UEFA announced that San Mamés Stadium (Spain) had their games moved to Estadio de La Cartuja (Spain) because of a lack of guarantees regarding spectators attendance caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in the Bilbao region of Spain.
Allianz Arena (Germany)
Arena Națională (Romania)
Estadio de La Cartuja (Spain)
Hampden Park (Scotland)
Johan Cruyff Arena (Holland)
Krestovsky Stadium (Russia)
Olympic Stadium (Azerbaijan)
Parken Stadium (Denmark)
Puskas Arena (Hungary)
Stadio Olimpico (Italy)
Wembley Stadium (England)
28 Teams based in Europe will be playing in this tournament, some teams will have two home games, some will have three home games.
Group A:
Turkey
Italy
Wales
Switzerland
Group B:
Denmark
Finland
Belgium
Russia
Group C:
Netherlands
Ukraine
Austria
North Macedonia
Group D:
England
Croatia
Scotland
Czech Republic
Group E:
Spain
Sweden
Poland
Slovakia
Group F:
Hungary
Portugal
France
Germany
Top two in each group get though to the round of 16. The top 4 third place teams will also enter the round of 16.
After the round of 16, it will be Quarter Final, then Webley hosts the Semi Finals and the final.
My Thoughts on the 2020 Euros:
I think this tournament has a lot of hype built into it before COVID-19 hit and postponed the games for a year, the hype is still there and with limited fan attendance for most of the games with no guarantees especially with Wembley for the Semi Finals and Final being a question waiting to answer. I like this idea of multiple cities for this tournament that it should be used in future Euros and World Cups. It will be fun for fans and broadcasters to do matches across multiple cities. I think the England vs Scotland match will be dynamite to watch and i do hope England, Scotland plus Wales go well because I live in the UK and i support all nations of UK for events like this and the World Cup. If this format of multiple cities is to be done again, it should have two home games and one away game for the group stage with first place teams plus the top two second place teams playing home games in the round of 16.