US Edition
Euro 2024: When and where is it being held, plus qualifying groups and fixtures
Plus, how England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland fared so far in their groups
England and Scotland booked their places at next year’s European Championship in October while Wales are heading to the play-offs after drawing 1-1 with Turkey on a dramatic night in Cardiff.
England
In group C; they finished their campaign with a draw against North Macedonia after beating Italy in Naples and Ukraine at home, smashing Malta away and hammering North Macedonia at Old Trafford. When qualification restarted in September, however, a lacklustre draw in the return match with Ukraine put a fly in the ointment, but their impressive win over Italy at Wembley sent England through to the finals.
Scotland
Scotland have qualified for Euro 2024. The Tartan Army won their first five Group A qualifiers including a famous 2-0 win over Spain at Hampden Park in March. Although they controversially lost the return fixture against Spain in October, they are guaranteed at least second place in the group and thus a spot at next year’s tournament. Scotland finished their campaign with a 2-2 away draw against Georgia and an entertaining 3-3 draw with Norway.
Wales
Wales are heading to the play-offs after drawing 1-1 with Turkey in Cardiff. Neco Williams’ seventh-minute goal offered hope they could bridge the two-point gap between them and Croatia for the second automatic qualifying spot.
But Yusuf Yazici’s controversial penalty – awarded after Wales had three stronger spot-kick appeals rejected – handed Turkey a share of the spoils and the point required to top Group D.
In the end, Yazici’s leveller did not matter in denying Wales qualification as Croatia kept their side of the bargain by beating Armenia 1-0 at home. Wales go into the March play-offs where a home semi-final against Finland, Iceland and Ukraine awaits.
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ended their campaign on a high with a 2-0 win over Group H winners Denmark.
Defeats to Finland (twice), Denmark, Slovenia and Kazakhstan (twice) meant Michael O’Neill’s side had no chance of qualification.
The Republic of Ireland
Ireland were handed the hardest challenge of all, with the Netherlands, France, Greece and Gibraltar also in group B. So far, Stephen Kenny’s team have only beaten Gibraltar, twice.
How does qualifying work for Euro 2024?
Germany have qualified automatically for the tournament as hosts and Russia are banned from qualifying following their invasion of Ukraine, leaving 23 other qualifying spots available to play for.
The 53 remaining Uefa members have been divided into 10 groups, with seven groups containing five teams and three containing six teams. The winners and runners-up from each group qualify for the tournament.
The three remaining teams will be decided through the play-offs. The 12 teams involved in the play-offs are selected based on their performances in the Nations League. The teams will then play in a semi-final and final for a place in the tournament.
When is the Euro 2024 qualifying schedule?
The first nine matchdays are over. The final matchday concludes on November 21.
- Matchday 10: November 19-21
The play-off semi-finals will be on March 21, 2024 and the finals will be on March 26, 2024.
When is Euro 2024?
The tournament is scheduled to take place from June 14 to July 14, 2024.
- Opening game: June 14, 2024
- Round of 16 starts: June 29
- Quarter-finals start: July 5
- Semi-finals start: July 9
- Final: July 14
Who will host Euro 2024?
Euro 2024 will be held in Germany, who fended off a bid from Turkey. This is the first time that the country has hosted the tournament since unification. West Germany hosted the tournament in 1988 and four matches of Euro 2020 were played in Munich. It will be the first time that any Euros matches have been held in the former East Germany, with Leipzig as a host city.
The matches will be played across 10 cities: Berlin, Munich, Dortmund, Gelsenkirchen, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Hamburg, Dusseldorf, Cologne and Leipzig.
Euro 2024 Qualifying groups
Group A: Cyprus, Georgia, Norway, Scotland, Spain
Group B: France, Gibraltar, Greece, Netherlands, Republic of Ireland
Group C: England, Italy, Malta, North Macedonia, Ukraine
Group D: Armenia, Croatia, Latvia, Turkey, Wales
Group E: Albania, Czechia, Faroe Islands, Moldova, Poland
Group F: Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Estonia, Sweden
Group G: Bulgaria, Hungary, Lithuania, Montenegro, Serbia
Group H: Denmark, Finland, Kazakhstan, Northern Ireland, San Marino, Slovenia
Group I: Andorra, Belarus, Israel, Romania, Switzerland
Group J: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Portugal, Slovakia
What is the latest news?
Gareth Southgate plans to lock his England players away from distraction in Germany at next summer’s Euro 2024 and promised there will be no repeat of the infamous Baden-Baden trip.
England are waiting for next month’s draw before finalising the plans for their German base camp, but Southgate and the Football Association have already decided the squad will be staying somewhere secluded.
That will be in contrast to the last time England travelled to Germany for a major tournament, when Sven-Goran Eriksson took the 2006 World Cup squad to the lively spa town of Baden-Baden, where their wives, girlfriends and families also stayed.
England’s tournament was overshadowed by stories of partying and photographers following the celebrity partners of the team’s players such as Victoria Beckham and Cheryl Cole.
Southgate kept his players in relative seclusion during the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, with family members invited into the camps for visits, while the squad stayed at St George’s Park in Burton upon Trent during the last Euros.
Asked what he wants from a base in Germany, Southgate said: “Really somewhere where we can be a little bit on our own. We need that nice contrast of relaxation and areas where we can work.
“You want to minimise travel where you can, but, within the FA, our staff are really good at picking those venues that I think the players will enjoy and will feel comfortable in.
“You basically want to be somewhere where everything that’s going on around you, you can zone out from really but somewhere with facilities that are good for working.”
When it was put to Southgate that he probably would not want any repeat of Baden-Baden, the England manager smiled and replied: “Well … no. I wasn’t involved in that tournament, so I don’t know how all that was but we have a great environment with our players.
“We want their families to be able to go and enjoy the tournament as well. We normally welcome them in at various times. It changes the dynamic of the hotel, especially if the kids come in and I think those elements are important for the players.”
England are believed to have already identified their ideal base, but have three options they are likely to choose from depending on the draw, which will determine where their group games are played, which takes place in Hamburg on Dec 2.
“There is basically a catalogue and you’ve got to get in early, if you like, on certain venues or you can try and go off the catalogue and do something different,” said Southgate. “We’ve had both options available to us and we are looking forward to sort of finalising all of our plans.”
Asked whether he has been spending his evenings browsing the catalogue of potential bases, Southgate added: “No, no, no, there are better people than me doing all of that!”
England were drawn with Wales and Scotland in their groups at the last two major tournaments, but, with his team safely in pot one, Southgate is unconcerned by the prospect of who his team might have to face in Germany.
“It doesn’t matter, really, in the end,” said Southgate. “There look like being really strong teams in pot two and pot three looks like it could be very strong.
“In the Euros we had Croatia in with us, who proved to be one of the best teams in the world over the last few years and we managed to navigate that so we’ve just got to be ready for whatever comes our way.”
On the possibility of facing Scotland again in the group stages. Southgate added: “Whatever. I think always for the fans, those games have that extra edge don’t they. But from our perspective, we’re just content with whatever comes out and we just have to deal with it. They’re all different sorts of challenges.”
England finished their qualifying campaign with underwhelming performances in the victory over Malta and draw with North Macedonia, but Southgate still believes rival nations will want to avoid his team in the draw.
“Well, we’ve won eight, drawn two,” said Southgate. “The last two games we’ve obviously experimented a little bit as well. Standing in front of the players this week, it’s hard to escape the fact that the job has been done. So that little additional edge that you want, perhaps wasn’t quite there at the weekend.
“I thought there were some good individual performances and I can’t fault how the players have been throughout the year, they’ve performed exceptionally well in a really tough group.”
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