Distribution of football teams by group at UEFA EURO 2024

The group stage of the 2024 European Football Championship in Germany will be the culmination of months of preparation, intensive training and strategic planning. This section will set the tone for the entire tournament and decide which teams will fight for the title of European champions in the knockout rounds. Let’s look at the most important aspects of the regulations and game plan of this crucial phase.

Tournament format

Euro 2024 will feature 24 teams selected through qualifying rounds. These teams will be divided into six groups of four teams each. The group stage uses a round-robin system: each team plays three games against the other teams in their group. This results in 36 games that will be played at different stadiums in Germany within 13 days.

Qualification rules

After the group stage is completed, the first and second places in each group automatically qualify for the knockout rounds. But that’s not all – four more teams that finish in third place will have the opportunity to qualify for the knockout rounds via a third place score. This mechanism introduces an element of unpredictability, as even teams that start with a loss can still advance to the knockout rounds if they collect enough points in the remaining games.

Game schedule

The games in the group phase of the European Championship 2024 are spread across 10 stadiums in different cities in Germany. The first game of the tournament will take place in the Olympic Stadium in Berlin, where the final will also be played. This game marks the official start of the tournament and Germany, as hosts, will compete in front of their fans.

Games take place daily, with breaks of one to two days between rounds for recovery. This busy schedule creates an atmosphere of a continuous football festival, where every day brings new exciting encounters and solutions.

Ranking criteria

There are specific criteria to determine the final placement of the teams in the groups. First and foremost is the number of points scored, for a win you get three points, for a draw you get one point and for a loss you get zero points. If two or more teams reach the same number of points, additional criteria are applied, such as goal difference, number of goals scored, results of head-to-head matches, etc.

Conclusion

The group stage of Euro 2024 is a complex and intense phase of the tournament that lays the foundation for future games in the knockout rounds. Thanks to the regulations and schedule, every team is given equal opportunities to prove themselves and fans have the opportunity to experience a variety of exciting games in a short period of time. There are days ahead of us full of football enthusiasm, exciting moments and surprising twists.