How to Choose the 24 Teams for Euro 2024: What to Know About Europe's Premier Tournament

Every four years, the highly anticipated matches of the Euro 2024 finals will take place, where the continent's strongest national teams compete to determine the deserving champion.

EURO 2024 Expands to 24 Participating Teams

Since 2016, the UEFA has decided to expand the number of participating teams from 16 to 24, ensuring that even the average teams have an opportunity to engage and gain valuable experience. With Germany being chosen as the host nation, they automatically receive one spot, and the remaining 23 spots will be fiercely contested among the 53 UEFA member nations (except for Russia due to FIFA's ban). Among them, 20 spots will be determined through qualifiers, with an additional 3 spots granted through playoffs. After the groups are drawn, fans will witness the teams playing in a home and away round-robin format, with the top 2 teams from each group advancing to the finals. There are a total of 10 groups in the qualifying round, with 7 groups consisting of 5 teams and 3 groups consisting of 6 teams.

What's Special About the EURO 2024 Playoff Round?

In addition to the direct qualifying spots through the qualifiers, based on the performance in the UEFA Nations League 2022/2023, 12 national teams will participate in the playoff round. These 12 teams will be divided into 3 groups to compete in semi-finals and finals, determining the group winners. Consequently, they will secure their places in the EURO 2024 finals. The 3 final matches are scheduled for 2024 to finalize the participating teams before the group stage draw.

Specific Qualifying Groups for EURO 2024

The qualifying phase for EURO 2024 starts in March 2023 and runs until November 2023. Matches will be held in March, June, September, October, and November to determine the top 2 teams in each group. The specific qualifying groups for EURO 2024 include: 

 

Group A: Spain, Scotland, Norway, Georgia, Cyprus. 

Group B: Netherlands, France, Ireland, Greece, Gibraltar. 

Group C: Italy, England, Ukraine, North Macedonia, Malta. 

Group D: Croatia, Wales, Armenia, Turkey, Latvia. 

Group E: Poland, Czech Republic, Albania, Faroe Islands, Moldova. 

Group F: Belgium, Austria, Sweden, Azerbaijan, Estonia. 

Group G: Hungary, Serbia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Lithuania. 

Group H: Denmark, Finland, Slovenia, Kazakhstan, Northern Ireland, San Marino. 

Group I: Switzerland, Israel, Romania, Kosovo, Belarus, Andorra. 

Group J: Portugal, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Iceland, Luxembourg, Slovakia, Liechtenstein. 

 

After completing the matches, the organizers will conduct the draw. This tournament will take place in Germany from June 14, 2024, to July 14, 2024. The group draw ceremony is scheduled for December 2023.