** The UEFA Euro 2024 is European by name and worldwide by reach. Other regions may baulk at the flip assessment that Germany is hosting the “World Cup without Brazil and Argentina” but the media stretch is so extensive that some South American officials worry that their Copa America runs simultaneously, almost in the European Championship’s shadow.
No doubt Aleksander Ceferin, in what he says will be his last term as UEFA president, and his fellow directors and officers secretly hope the simplistic view is born out by events; the German DFB is hoping fervently to recreate the sun-kissed party atmospherics of the World Cup hosting in 2006; fans and media desire nothing more than a football feast.
Doomsday merchants hover in and around European football, frightening themselves with all the negativities erupting from racism, corruption on and off the pitch, illegal betting (whatever that is), misogyny, state and corporate-driven multi-club ownership, financial imbalance, narrow-minded elitism, sportswashing, self-deluded personal entitlement and plenty more.
Any and all of the ills of society at large can be found in microcosm within the football world. That illustrates the mesmeric fascination of what we call the people’s sport yet which was codified by an original elite of men drawn from England’s 19th-century universities and so-called public schools. Football was and remains full of such competitive contradictions.
This is why high-level events such as the World Cup, European Championship, Copa America, Champions League are crucial: the talent, imagination and commitment of the players and the teams serve as a reminder about the greater good which will maintain association football’s sporting pre-eminence for many years to come.
The stars of UEFA Euro 2024 will be laying further building blocks on a traditional whose foundations have been laid, down the years, by the likes of Lev Yashin, Gigi Riva, Franz Beckenbauer, Michel Platini, Marco van Basten, Xavi, Cristiano Ronaldo and many more glorious near-winners. They will also be celebrating the game’s reclaimed freedom after the pandemic-imposed restrictions of Euro 2020-in-2021.
Germany beat Turkey, at a UEFA exco vote in Sepember 2018, for hosts rights to the tournament’s 17th staging. This is a solo first for the unified nation after West Germany’s pre-reunification finals of 1988 and a share in last time’s pan-European staging. UEFA rated the German bid as “comfortably [meeting] overall expectations when it comes to political aspects, social responsibility, sustainability and human rights.”
Nine of the host cities welcomed the 2006 World Cup: Berlin, Cologne, Dortmund, Frankfurt, Gelsenkirchen, Hamburg, Leipzig, Munich and Stuttgart. The additional venue is Düsseldorf, a host city in 1988. Munich sees Germany kick off against Scotland on June 14 with the final in Berlin’s Olympic Stadium exactly one month later, July 14.
Tradition, the foundation of the narrative for the world’s most popular sport, has been evident at every step of the evolution of the UEFA European Championship. Frenchman Henri Delaunay had the dream of a European championship and also provided much of the momentum which saw the creation of UEFA in the mid-1950s. Hence the magnificent trophy bears his name.
France played host to the inaugural finals in 1960 when the Soviet Union defeated Yugoslavia in the final in the original Parc des Princes in Paris. Initially the finals were contested between four teams, in two semi-finals, a third place-off and the final. In 1980 UEFA welcomed more countries to the party and doubled the complement to eight teams. A further 16 years and England, in 1996, was the first host to boast a 16-team tournament. The event’s fast-growing popularity prompted an expansion to 24 teams in 2016 in France.
A clamour to share in the drama led UEFA to widen the participation potential for all the European football family. UEFA EURO 2020 was the first to incorporate the newly-founded UEFA Nations League in the qualifying system. This concept was retained in the chase for the 23 finals slots alongside Germany, directly seeded as host nation.
Usual set-up: six groups of four teams with the group winners, runners-up and the best four third-placed teams advancing to the knockout round of 16. The quarter-finals, semi-finals and final will be held over the concluding 10 days of competition. No third-place playoff. That was cancelled after 1980.
The strength in depth of European football down the years is illustrated by the fact that 10 different nations have triumphed. Top of the table sit Germany and Spain with three successes each; the first German victory was as the former West Germany in 1972. France and Italy have both won twice with the Azzurri being the reigning champions after edging England on penalties at Wembley in July 2021.
The inaugural European Championship had kicked off with 17 entrants when the Soviet Union’s Anatoly Ilyin scored a historic first goal on September 28, 1958, in a 3-1 victory over Hungary. The rapid growth in popularity and importance saw 54 nations – suspended Russia the only absentee – launch into qualifying this time around.
Obvious favourites came through safely. Belgium, England, France and Portugal as well as Hungary and Romania were all unbeaten in qualifying. Portugal were not just the only team with a 100pc record from their 10 qualifiers but conceded fewest goals (two) and scored the most (36). Belgium’s Romelu Lukaku was the 14-goal top individual marksman followed by Portugal’s inevitable Cristiano Ronaldo (10).
Georgia will be the only debutants.
Prize money on offer to the 24 finalists totals €331m. The distribution system, matching that of UEFA EURO 2020, was approved by the UEFA Executive Committee, on the eve of the draw. All the 24 finalists will benefit from a participation fee of €9.25m plus match bonuses of €1.0m for a win and €500,000 for a draw.
Qualification for the Round of 16 will be worth €1.5m, qualification for the quarter-finals €2.5m and qualification for the semi-finals €4m. The runners-up will receive an additional €5m with the eventual champions being rewarded with an extra €8m. Hence the maximum sum possible for the champions, if they win all three of their group matches, is €28.25m.
The ultimate glory of raising the Henri Delaunay Trophy is beyond price.