The European Championship enters new territory in 2020 with the tournament taking place in a number of countries across the continent.

Governing body UEFA has decided to stage “a party all over Europe” to mark 60 years since the inaugural tournament and, for the second time in history, it will feature 24 teams.

With the competition being held in a variety of countries, there is no automatic qualifier, and each of UEFA’s member nations will have to earn their place at the finals.

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The qualification process has changed somewhat and the introduction of the Nations League has led to some confusion, but luckily Goal is here to break matters down.

1. Euro 2020 hosts
2. Euro 2020 final
3. Euro 2020 format
4. Euro 2020 teams
5. Euro 2020 tickets
6. Euro 2020 favourites

Euro 2020 hosts

In 2020 the European Championship will be held in 12 different venues across 12 different cities in 12 different nations.

Of the 12 venues, all will stage at least three group stage games and a knock-out round tie each. The breakdown of venues and games can be seen in the table below.

Games	Country	City	Stadium
Group stage & Round of 16	Denmark	Copenhagen	Parken Stadium
Group stage & Round of 16	Hungary	Budapest	Ferenc Puskas Stadium
Group stage & Round of 16	Ireland	Dublin	Aviva Stadium
Group stage & Round of 16	Netherlands	Amsterdam	Johann Cruijff Arena
Group stage & Round of 16	Romania	Bucharest	Arena Nationala
Group stage & Round of 16	Scotland	Glasgow	Hampden Park
Group stage & Round of 16	Spain	Bilbao	San Mames Stadium
Group stage & Quarter-final	Azerbaijan	Baku	National Stadium
Group stage & Quarter-final	Germany	Munich	Allianz Arena
Group stage & Quarter-final	Italy	Rome	Stadio Olimpico
Group stage & Quarter-final	Russia	Saint Petersburg	Krestovsky Stadium
Group stage, Round of 16, Semi-finals & Final	England	London	Wembley Stadium

Why is Euro 2020 being held across 12 venues?

The decision to expand the European Championship to span the continent instead of being confined to one or two host nations was made by UEFA’s Executive Committee in 2012 as a way to mark the 60th anniversary of the tournament. 

FIFA President Gianni Infantino, who was then UEFA General Secretary, explained that “instead of having a party in one country, we will have a party all over Europe in the summer of 2020.” 

“An opportunity like this, to give many cities and many countries the possibility to host even just one part of a EURO, is certainly an excellent thing, especially in times when you have an economic situation where you cannot expect countries to invest in facilities in the way that such an event requires,” said Infantino. 

It remains unclear whether UEFA will continue with such an approach to the staging of their flagship international tournament after 2020, but Infantino has suggested that it would be a one-off.

Where is the Euro 2020 final?

The final of Euro 2020 will be held at Wembley Stadium in London, which is the home of the England national team, who finished fourth in the 2018 World Cup. The venue, affectionately known as ‘The Home of Football’, will also be used for the two semi-final games.

Redeveloped and re-opened in 2007, the new state-of-the-art facility has a capacity of 90,000 and has hosted FA Cup and League Cup finals, as well as the Community Shield.

Wembley (in its former guise) previously staged the final of the European Championship in 1996 when England hosted the tournament. The original Wembley was also used for the 1966 World Cup final.

Euro 2020 format

As mentioned above, Euro 2020 will feature 24 teams following UEFA’s decision to expand the number of participants from 2016.

The format for the final tournament will be the same as its predecessor Euro 2016, meaning that there will be six groups comprised of four teams.

As with Euro 2016, the winner and runner-up in each group, as well as the four best third-placed sides progress to the round of 16.

Euro 2020 teams

Qualification for Euro 2020 will incorporate a new system, whereby the bulk of the teams qualify through the traditional group method and four places are decided through the UEFA Nations League.

The Euro 2020 qualifiers took place from March 2019 to November 2019, with 20 teams having been confirmed automatically: 

Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine and Wales.

The remaining four teams will be decided during the play-offs in March 2020.

Euro 2020 qualifying groups and draw

What is the UEFA Nations League?

The UEFA Nations League is a competition for UEFA’s 55 members, which ran for the first time in 2018. It will consisted of four different divisions (or ‘Leagues’) and has three stages.

Each League will yield a qualifier for Euro 2020, which will be decided via play-offs between the teams that have not already qualified for the finals.

Check out UEFA’s handy visual guide to the process below.

The play-off spots will be allocated to the winner of each group, but if the winner has already qualified, the berth will go to the next best ranked team – that has not qualified – in that league.

You can read our in-depth explainer for the Nations League here.

Euro 2020 tickets

The ticket application process for fans of teams that have qualified via the traditional European Championship qualifying will open in December 2019, while supporters of the teams who win the Nations League play-offs can apply from April 2020, around a month before the tournament begins.

In December 2019, fans of national teams that qualify for tournament can apply for tickets if they meet the criteria defined through their respective national football associations.

Fans can register their interest for the next phase of ticket sales on the UEFA website here.

Who are the favourites to win Euro 2020?

France will go into the tournament firm favourites after winning the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Kylian Mbappe, Antoine Griezmann and Paul Pogba will still be key players within Les Bleus’ squad.

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World Cup 2018 runners-up Croatia will also be in strong contention to win the tournament, with Euro 2020 possibly being the last major international tournament for many of their golden generation such as Luka Modric, Ivan Rakitic, Ivan Perisic, Mario Mandzukic and Danijel Subasic.

Other teams expected to do well are semi-finalists Belgium, Spain and England, the latter of whom will both want to ‘bring football home’ after equalling their best effort in 50 years with a semi-final berth this summer.

World Cup 2014 winners Germany will also want to redeem themselves after being knocked out at the group stage in this year’s tournament.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal will aim to defend the title they won against the odds in 2016. Outsiders who qualified for World Cup 2018 knockout stages includes Switzerland, Denmark and Sweden.

Italy and Wales had memorable European Championships last time around and will be hoping for more of the same, while Netherlands will be aiming to qualify for their first major tournament in six years.