“Group of death” for the champion and rest for the hosts: all about the Euro 2024 draw

The draw for the final stage of the championship took place in the Elbphilharmonie of Hamburg, Germany European Football 2024. Sports talks about the six groups formed, introduces the format of the tournament and explains when the remaining three participants in the Euro will be known.
What were the baskets before the ceremony

Draw results

• Group A: Germany, Hungary, Switzerland, Scotland;
• Group B: Spain, Croatia, Italy, Albania;
• Group C: Slovenia, Denmark, Serbia, England;
• Group D: winner of route A, Netherlands, Austria, France;
• Group E: Belgium, Slovakia, Romania, winner of track B;
• Group F: Turkey, winner of track C, Portugal, Czech Republic.

< /ul>Quartet B, of course, becomes the “group of death”. Here are the winners of Euro 2020, the Italians, and the formidable Spaniards, and the bronze medalists of the Qatar 2022 World Championship, the Croats. Yes, even the Albanians, in whom few people believe after such a draw, can surprise and take away points from one of the tops.

Let us remind you that the Spaniards and Italians fought in the Euro 2012 finals. Then the Furia Roja destroyed the fairy tale of Gianluigi Buffon and company: in Kyiv there was a defeat with a score of 4:0. After this, Squadra Azzurra took revenge in the 1/8 finals in 2016 and in the semi-finals of the last tournament, defeating the Spaniards in a penalty shootout.


In most groups there are clear favorites (Germany, England, Belgium, Portugal) and the remaining teams have equal chances for the playoffs, plus or minus. The best draw went to the “Red Devils”: if the attractive Ukrainian team overcomes the gaps, only then will the Belgians have worthy opposition in the quartet.
Group D is of greater interest, where the Polish national team may join France and the Netherlands. But there is still a difficult Austria there.


Final stage formatIt is similar to the format that was used at the Euros in 2016 and 2021. The two best teams from the groups, as well as the four best teams that finished third in their quartets, will play in the 1/8 finals. Thus, 16 of the 24 participating countries will advance to the playoffs.

Then everything is classic: 1/8 finals, quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals. Bronze will go to the two teams that lost in the 1/2 finals.
The play-offs will be played in the spring

• Path A: Wales/Finland — Poland/Estonia;
• Path B: Bosnia and Herzegovina/Ukraine — Israel/Iceland;
• Path C: Georgia/Luxembourg — Greece/Kazakhstan.
Six semi-finals will be held on March 21, with three finals on March 26. The winners will go to Euro 2024.

The final round of Euro 2024, the opening match between Germany and Scotland, will take place on June 14, 2024 in Munich. As for the final, the decisive battle is scheduled for July 14; It will be hosted by the main German arena, the Olympiastadion in Berlin. Previously, this stadium hosted the finals of the 2006 World Cup and the 2014/15 UEFA Champions League.

Ten cities will host the European Championship:

• Berlin/»Olympiastadion» ( accommodates 70 thousand fans);
• Dortmund/»BVB-Stadion» (66 thousand);
• Dusseldorf/»Dusseldorf Arena» (47 thousand);
• Hamburg/Volksparkstadion (50 thousand);
• Gelsenkirchen/Arena AufSchalke (50 thousand);
• Cologne/Cologne Stadium (47 thousand);
• Leipzig< /strong>/Leipzig Stadium (42 thousand);
• Munich/Arena Munich (67 thousand);
• Frankfurt/Frankfurt Arena (46 thousand);
• Stuttgart/Stuttgart Arena (54 thousand).

Note that of the above arenas, only the Dusseldorf stadium did not host the 2006 World Cup.

Why not Russia? In September 2022, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) did not allow our team to participate in the qualifying tournament for the European Championship, and therefore Valery Karpin's boys had no chance of making it to Euro 2024.
Before this, in February 2022, the International Football Federation (FIFA) and UEFA suspended Russian national teams and clubs from participating in international competitions for an indefinite period due to the events in Ukraine. Since then, the national team has played 11 friendly matches (four wins, six draws, one defeat).