The European Football Championship 2020 is a jubilee tournament. Therefore, there are some unusual things in his organization. The tournament will be held in 12 countries, including Russia.
The first European Football Championship took place in 1960 in France. Then the USSR national team became the champion of Europe. Since then, the European Championship has been held every four years, and the next tournament will take place in the summer of 2020. This jubilee championship will be held in an unprecedented format. UEFA head Michel Platini suggested holding the tournament in different cities across the European continent. It should be noted that this is the only such precedent, the next championship in 2024 will be held in the usual format.
Participating cities
So, the European Football Championship 2020 will be held in 12 European countries, in 13 cities. The numbers of countries and cities are different, as England and Scotland are represented by different teams under the UEFA regulations, but under international law they are one country - Great Britain.
Each of the twelve cities will host four matches - three group matches and one playoff match. The thirteenth city will host the semi-finals and the final. The main matches of the championship will be held in London. The group stage and 1/8 finals will be held in Bucharest, Dublin, Glasgow, Brussels, Copegagen, Amsterdam, Bilbao, Budepest. The group stage and quarterfinals will be held in Munich, Baku, Rome and St. Petersburg.
Qualifying Tournament Features
The innovations at the European Championship 2020 will affect not only the participating cities. The EURO-2020 qualifying tournament will also take place in an unconventional way. All football teams in Europe will be divided into 10 groups, with the top two teams from each group going directly to the European Championship. A total of 20 teams.
The remaining teams will get to the European Championship thanks to the "League of Nations" tournament. All European football teams will be divided into four leagues. Each of the four leagues will have a winner. It will be identified using a complex calculation formula. Thus, four more teams will make it to the 2020 European Championship.
Qualifying matches will be held later than in previous championships. The qualifying matches will start in March 2019 and conclude in the spring of 2020.
EURO-2020 in St. Petersburg
St. Petersburg will host 4 matches of the European Football Championship-2020. The group stage matches will be held in the city on the Neva on June 13, June 17 and June 22. The quarterfinal match will take place on July 3, 2020.
The city authorities and volunteers have already begun preparations for the tournament. The games will be held at the Krestovsky stadium.
We wish good luck to the Russian national team, which has every chance for a successful performance at EURO-2020. Why not repeat the achievement of the legendary USSR national team in 1960 in the first European Football Championship?
