The 2024 European championship gets underway this Friday in Germany, as the biggest international football tournament of the year takes centre stage.
As hosts, Germany will get the action underway against Scotland, as they will be eager to recover from their group stage exit in the 2022 World Cup.
The tournament has 24 teams split into six groups of four.
Ready for EURO 2024! 🤩#EURO2024 pic.twitter.com/Fb7WEdgJff
— UEFA EURO 2024 (@EURO2024) March 26, 2024
The two best teams in each group go through to the last 16, followed by the four best third-place teams.
Germany start their tournament against Scotland, and are joined in Group A by Switzerland and Hungary.
Defending champions Italy, who did not qualify for the 2022 World Cup, and lost twice to England in qualfying for this tournament, face a tough group that includes Spain, Croatia and Albania.
After losing to Italy on penalties in the last final, England are in Group C, where they will be joined by Denmark, Slovenia, and Serbia, who they will face on Sunday.
With the likes of Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden, Harry Kane and Declan Rice entering the tournament on the back of great seasons for their club, Gareth Southgate's side will be one of the favourites for the tournament, in what could be his last as England manager.
Another team that will be heavily backed is France, who were a penalty shoot-out away from back-to-back World Cup's in 2022. They are in a tough Group D, alongside the Netherlands, Poland and Austria.
While some of the golden generation of Belgium may have moved on, they will still go to Germany with a very talented squad. They are in Group E, alongside Slovakia, Romania and Ukraine.
In Group F, it will be the last international tournament for Cristiano Ronaldo, as the 2016 winners Portugal go to Germany with the likes of Bernardo Silva, Bruno Fernandes, Rafael Leao, and Ruben Dias.
They are joined by Turkey, Georgia and the Czech Republic.
For football fans, there will be three games a day for the first week, in what should be an entertaining tournament.
