Mith the start of the qualification, things are finally heading towards the 2024 European Football Championship. Those responsible in Germany around tournament boss Philipp Lahm are dreaming of another summer fairy tale, and national coach Hansi Flick and his team have a lot to make up for after the early knockout at the World Cup in Qatar. The most important questions with a view to the tournament, which begins next year on June 14th with the opening game in Munich and ends on July 14th with the final in Berlin.
How does the European Championship qualification work?
From this Thursday and until November 21, ten qualifying groups will be played – seven groups of five and three groups of six. It is played in the classic principle “everyone against everyone” with home and away games. The first and second in each case reach the final tournament. The very first week has top games to offer: On Thursday (8.45 p.m. live on DAZN) European champions Italy will welcome England in a new edition of the European Championship final in Naples, on Friday (8.45 p.m. live on DAZN) World Cup runners-up France will be in the Stade de France challenged by Saint-Denis against the Netherlands.
In Group B with the Netherlands and France, Greece and Ireland will find it difficult to survive. Ukraine, who face the two 2021 finalists Italy and England in Group C, are also underdogs. As Belgium’s new head coach in Group F, German coach Domenico Tedesco has to deal with Sweden and Austria, among others. Spain, at the head of Group A with Scotland and Norway as opponents, Denmark in Group H with Finland and Slovenia as their closest rivals, and World Cup third-placed Croatia, who face Wales and Turkey in Group D, are against tasks that seem easier.
After the preliminary round, only twenty teams plus Germany as hosts have qualified. The remaining three European Championship places will be awarded to twelve teams at qualifying tournaments in March 2024. In three play-off paths A, B and C, the respective group winners of the respective Nations League A, B and C each play a further participant in a semi-final and final. Nations that have already qualified for the finals will be replaced by those moving up from the respective league paths.
What role does the German team play?
No. The team of national coach Hansi Flick has already qualified as hosts, but could have played in one of the qualifying groups out of competition if they wished. The DFB decided against it. “We thought about it, but there would have been a risk that our opponents would not always have started with their first eleven,” said Flick to the “kicker”.
But you have the choice of opponents in your own hands as the host of the European Championship. It starts against Peru this Saturday in Mainz (8.45 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the national team and on ZDF), the game against Belgium follows on March 28 (8.45 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the national team and on RTL) in Cologne.
Where can you see the qualification and where can you see the EM?
The streaming service DAZN has acquired a wide range of rights for the preliminary round and will start broadcasting the first qualifying game between Kazakhstan and Slovenia on Thursday (4 p.m.). MagentaTV, which broadcasts all 51 games, is the rights holder for the European Championship. However, ARD and ZDF as well as RTL have acquired sublicenses for each individual game in the home tournament. The two public broadcasters broadcast 34 games, the private broadcaster 17. The opening game, all German games, the two semi-finals and the final can certainly be seen on either ARD or ZDF.
The EM will also be shown on ZDF: MagentaTV owns the rights
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Image: dpa
When will EM tickets be available, which dates have already been set?
There are currently no tickets available, and UEFA has not yet announced the start of the first ticket phase. Typically, tickets go into the first sales phase about a year before the tournament begins. The schedule is already in place, in addition to final destination Berlin, the two semi-final venues Munich and Dortmund have each been allocated six European Championship games. Five games each will take place in Frankfurt, Düsseldorf, Stuttgart, Hamburg and Cologne. After all, there will be four games in Leipzig and Gelsenkirchen.
Germany will play their three group games in Munich (June 14, 9:00 p.m.), Stuttgart (June 19) and Frankfurt (June 23). There will be more clarity about the individual games and the tournament tree on December 2nd when the six preliminary round groups will be drawn in Hamburg. Then, however, only 21 of 24 participants will be known. Three more will follow in spring 2024.
What about Russia?
As for the World Cup in Qatar, the Russian association is excluded from qualifying because of the war of aggression in Ukraine. However, Belarus has a chance to participate, which UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin defended. “It’s a bit populist to demand: ‘Throw everyone out!’ We currently see no reason to do that,” Ceferin told “Sport Bild” in October. Belarus are allowed to take part in UEFA competitions but have to host their home games outside of the country and without spectators.