How the Groups Were Originally Constituted

The 2021 UEFA Football European Championship, originally referred to as the 2020 UEFA Football European Championship or simply UEFA Euro 2020, marks the 16^th edition of this competition. All 55 UEFA national teams had to compete at the qualifiers in order to get a place among the 24 spots available for the finals of the tournament. For this edition, only 20 of the 24 spots were allocated from the qualifying process, while the 4 others required a special stage. The final schedule for the UEFA Euro groups is here now. 

So, the first draw, which is the qualifying draw, took place on the 2^nd of December 2018 in Dublin. It resulted in a total of ten groups. 5 groups of 5 teams, and 5 groups of 6 teams. The four participants of the UEFA Nations League finals obtained a spot on the 5 groups of 5 teams. Thereafter, the qualifying games started earlier in March 2019 instead of September 2018 as in previous years after the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The UEFA Nations League started in 2018. It is linked to the Euro qualifying process. The teams which didn’t succeed to qualify for the Euro 2021 finals (among the 20 teams) receive another chance in the UEFA Nations League. The latter allowed those teams to compete in play-offs for each division and the winners of each division completed the 20 teams already qualified.

The Final Euro Groups Draw

The Euro groups draw divided 24 teams into 6 groups of 4 teams each, on the 30^th of November 2019 in Bucharest, Romania. The identities of the 4 playoff teams from the UEFA Nations League were not known at the time of the draw. However, another one was not needed after 16 playoff teams were known. The four finalists of the Nations League received a spot identified as Play-off Winners A – D. Later, we knew all the participants.

The final draw resulted in 6 groups, labeled A to F. The teams distribute as follows:

Corresponding Venues for the Euro Groups

The UEFA Euro 2021 competition was originally scheduled to be held in 13 different European countries from June 12 to July 12, 2020. However, the Covid-19 pandemic in Europe postponed it to a new time frame: June 11 to July 11, 2021. It was to reduce the pressure in affected countries on public services. Also, in order to allow time for the completion of the suspended domestic leagues.

In December 2017, Belgium was removed as a host country because of the delays in the construction of the Brussels Eurostadium. Thereafter, in April 2021, Dublin (Ireland) was also removed as there were no guarantees for spectators to attend. Spain also changed their host city from Bilbao to Sevilla to ensure an audience for the matches, making a total of 11 host countries. Therefore, Russia (St. Petersburg) and England (London) will take on matches originally scheduled in Dublin (Ireland). Below are the Euro groups with their corresponding host cities/countries.

Conclusion

Italy and Turkey launch this long-awaited competition on Friday the 11^th of June 2021 in Rome. Thus, marking the start of a huge one-month football festival as 24 teams fight to be crowned Champions. The final will take place in London as Wembley Stadium is the biggest stadium in this competition with a capacity of 90,000. This tournament will follow the same format as the previous edition Euro 2016, with the top 2 and best 3^rd-placed teams of each group advancing to the knockout stage. Hence, you can find the best offers for this prestigious competition on the best betting software for multiple bookmakers, VIP-IBC. Make sure to check it out!