The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as 2020 UEFA European Championship, UEFA Euro 2020, or simply Euro 2020, is scheduled to be the 16th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). Please see a full list of cities hosting the Euro 2020.
The tournament, to be held in 11 cities in 11 UEFA countries, was originally scheduled from 12 June to 12 July 2020. The tournament was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe and rescheduled for 11 June to 11 July 2021. The tournament will still retain the name "UEFA Euro 2020".
UEFA President Michel Platini said in 2012 that the tournament was to be hosted in several nations as a "romantic" one-off event to celebrate the 60th "birthday" of the European Championship competition. Having the largest capacity of any of the stadiums entered for the competition, Wembley Stadium in London is scheduled to host the semi-finals and final for the second time, having done so before at the 1996 tournament in the stadium's former incarnation. The Stadio Olimpico in Rome was chosen to host the opening game, involving Turkey and hosts Italy. Originally to be played at 13 venues, two hosts were later removed: Brussels in December 2017 due to delays with the building of the Eurostadium, and Dublin in April 2021 as there was no guarantee that spectators could attend. Spain also changed their host city from Bilbao to Seville to allow an audience at matches.
Portugal are the defending champions, having won the 2016 competition. The video assistant referee (VAR) system will make its debut at the European Championship in this tournament.
Originally called the European Nations Cup, the first tournament in 1960 was held in France and the games were shared between Paris and Marseille. Spain hosted the 1964 tournament with all the matches shared between the Santiago Bernabeu and Camp Nou in Madrid and Barcelona respectively. In 1968 the tournament became known as the European Championship and Italy hosted for the first time. Three stadiums were used, the Stadio Olimpico (Rome), Stadio San Paolo (Naples) and the Stadio Communale (Florence).
Belgium hosted in 1972 with two of the stadiums situated in Brussels, one in Antwerp and another in Liege. The huge Eastern European country, Yugoslavia hosted the event in 1976 at the Red Star Stadium in Belgrade, and the Stadion Maksimir in Zagreb
In 1980 Italy was once again tasked with hosting only 12 years after doing so the first time. This was the first edition to feature eight teams and as a result two new stadiums were used to host games. The Stadio Olimpico and Stadio San Paolo were once again on display and the two new stadiums were the San Siro and Stadio Communal in Turin. France hosted for a second time in 1984 and seven different stadiums were used in seven different French cities. West Germany hosted for the first time in 1988 in eight different stadiums, each of which had a capacity of more than 60,000.
The tournament headed to Sweden for the first time in 1992. Sweden used four stadiums each of which was situated towards the south of the country. The 10th European Championships in 1996 were held in England and 16 teams took part this time. The English beat out bids from Austria, Greece, the Netherlands and Portugal.
For the first time the tournament was co-hosted by two countries in 2000 with Belgium and the Netherlands sharing it. They beat bids from Spain and Austria to host the event. Eight different stadiums were used for the matches in what many call the finest international tournament ever. Again Austria bid this time alongside Hungary but they were beaten this time by Portugal to host the tournament in 2004. The winning bid was selected in October 1999. After years of trying the Austrians finally had a successful bid to host the tournament in 2008. It was a joint bid with Switzerland who were also hosting the event for the first time.
In 2012 the tournament was again co-hosted this time between Poland and Ukraine. Croatia–Hungary, Greece, Italy, and Turkey had also put in bids but failed to win. France hosted the tournament for a third time in 2016. Italy and Turkey also put in single bids while Norway and Sweden put in a joint bid which was later withdrawn.
The 2024 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2024 or simply Euro 2024, will be the 17th edition of the UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe organised by UEFA. Germany will host the tournament, scheduled from 14 June to 14 July 2024.
The 2028 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2028 or simply Euro 2028, will be the 18th edition of the UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men’s football championship of Europe organised by UEFA. Should the selection process and timeline used for Euro 2024 be applied again, the host(s) would be chosen in the autumn of 2022.