The Euro 2024 guide: everything you need to know before kick off

How many teams are playing in Euro 2024 and what’s the format? Al Jazeera answers your questions.

Euro 2024, the 17th edition of the European Championship, will kick off in Germany on June 14.

Euro 2024 marks the return of the competition to its usual four-year cycle after the 2020 event was postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Italy are the defending champions, having won the last tournament by beating England in the Euro 2020 final on penalties.

Here’s what you need to know about Euro 2024.

⚽ Which teams have qualified for Euro 2024?

⚽ When does Euro 2024 start and end?

• Group stage: June 14 to 26
• Round of 16: June 29 to July 2
• Quarterfinals: July 5 and 6
• Semifinals: July 9 and 10
• Final: July 14

⚽ What’s the format, groups and match schedule for Euro 2024?

• Teams will be divided into six groups, consisting of four teams each. The top two sides from each group along with the best four third-placed teams will advance to the round of 16.
• Winners of the last-16 will proceed to the quarterfinals followed by the semifinals and the final.
• In the knockout stage, if a match is level at the end of normal playing time, extra time (two periods of 15 minutes each) will be played. If still tied after extra time, the match will be decided by a penalty shootout.
• Al Jazeera has a dedicated fixtures page listing the entire Euro 2024 match schedule, featuring all the kickoff times, venues and real-time goal updates.
• Keep up to date with your team’s progress in the tournament via the real-time Euro 2024 Group Standings page.

⚽ Which teams are favourites to win Euro 2024?

Al Jazeera has identified the six main contenders who could be lifting the Euro 2024 trophy come July 14.

We will send out these team features 24 hours before each team plays their first match.

• England
• France
• Spain
• Germany
• Portugal
• Italy

⚽ Where will the matches be played?

• Ten venues have been chosen for the tournament. Of those, nine were used at the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
• The host cities are Berlin, Cologne, Dortmund, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Gelsenkirchen, Hamburg, Leipzig, Munich and Stuttgart.
• Munich will be staging matches for the second Euro in succession; Munich Football Arena was one of 11 co-host venues that held matches during Euro 2020.
• Check out the 10 stadiums to be used during Euro 2024.

⚽ Al Jazeera Sport has a quick walkthrough of the history of the European Football Championship.

After learning the history, test yourself on the Al Jazeera Euro 2024 quiz.

⚽ Euro 2024 tickets

Public ticket sales for Euro 2024 started on German Unity Day, October 3, 2023. More than 1.2 million tickets were available during the first round of ticket applications.

Tickets were allocated via a UEFA portal lottery process and applicants could apply for a maximum of four tickets per match. Individuals were not awarded tickets for different matches scheduled for the same day.

The cheapest tickets available are for 30 euros (approximately $33) for the lowest category pricing of group stage fixtures. The ticket price for the final ranges from 95 to 2,000 euros.

⚽ How much is the prize money for Euro 2024?

UEFA has said it will pay 331 million euros ($360m) in total prize money to the 24 participants.

The maximum amount that the champion team may achieve, if they have won all three of their group matches, is 28.25 million euros ($30.31m).

⚽ Where can I follow Euro 2024?

UEFA has allotted rights to various broadcasting and online streaming outlets across the world.

You can follow the action on Al Jazeera’s dedicated Euro 2024 tournament page with all the match build-up and live text commentary of the biggest matches, and keep up to date with group standings and real-time match results and schedules.