Let’s take a look at where the games are going to be played, who is going to host the finals, and where you should go if you want to catch as many matches as possible.
This summer’s European Championship in football is different from previous tournaments in that it is spread out across the continent, instead of hosted by only one or two countries. Thus, if a trip to the UEFA EURO is on your agenda, some careful planning could very well be needed.
Let’s take a look at where the games are going to be played, who is going to host the finals, and where you should go if you want to catch as many matches as possible.
Eleven cities are hosting the tournament
In total, there will be 11 cities hosting the tournament this summer. If you are going to Travel to EURO 2020, you will have to decide on one or a few destinations. Visiting all of them will be next to impossible in today’s climate.
The hosts are the following cities: Amsterdam (the Netherlands), Baku (Azerbaijan), Bucharest (Romania), Budapest (Hungary), Copenhagen (Denmark), Glasgow (Scotland), London (England), Munich (Germany), Rome (Italy), Saint Petersburg (Russia), and Seville (Spain). In other words, the tournament is more or less spread out across every corner of Europe.
Each of the tournament’s six groups plays their matches at two of the above locations during the group stage.
Group A (Italy, Switzerland, Turkey, Wales) will play in Rome and Baku; Group B (Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Russia) in Copenhagen and St Petersburg; Group C (Austria, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Ukraine) in Bucharest and Amsterdam; Group D (Croatia, Czech Republic, England, Scotland) in London and Glasgow; Group E (Poland, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden) in St Petersburg and Seville; Group F (France, Germany, Hungary, Portugal) will play their games in Budapest and Munich.
The biggest games at Wembley Stadium
Each of the venues for the tournament will host at least four games, but two of them will be the location for several more matches than the others on the list. Since St Petersburg hosts both Group B and Group E, seven matches will be played at the Saint Petersburg Stadium. The seventh and last game in St Petersburg is one of the quarter-finals.
With eight scheduled games, Wembley Stadium in London is the venue that will host the most games of the tournament. However, not only is London getting the most games, but the city is also getting the biggest ones. Five of the eight games at the stadium are in the knock-out stages of the tournament, and both semi-finals, as well as the big final on 11 July, will be played at Wembley Stadium.
Travelling between cities
We are well aware that it isn’t the easiest thing to travel between countries at this moment in time – and you won’t be able to travel freely between all the host cities – but restrictions are easing every day. If luck is on our side, we will be able to go from one place to another during the tournament.
If you want to catch as many games as possible without travelling between cities, London and St Petersburg are your best bets, but if you are hoping to see more than one country on your journey, there are some other alternatives as well.
London would still be a good choice, with both Glasgow and Amsterdam nearby, but two other alternatives would be to use Amsterdam or Munich as your hub. With Amsterdam as your base, you are close to London, Copenhagen, and Munich. With Munich as your starting point, both Amsterdam and Copenhagen are nearby, and you would be relatively close to London, Bucharest, Budapest, and Rome.
Wherever you decide to go, we are sure you will get memories that will last for the rest of your life.
Photo by Mitch Rosen on Unsplash
