A guide with everything you need to know about European Championship In Germany:
The Euro starts on Friday, when host Germany plays against Scotland at the Munich Football Arena (better known as the Allianz Arena for Bayern Munich games).
The final will be on July 14th at the Olympiastadion in Berlin.
England and France are widely considered favorites to lift the trophy. England have not won a major international tournament since the 1966 World Cup, but were defeated finalists in the last Euro. France were losing finalists in the 2022 World Cup and are led by Kylian Mbappe, who has just joined Real Madrid and is widely considered the heir to Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as the best player in the world.
The tournament starts with six groups of four teams. The teams in each group play each other once, with three points for a win, one point for a draw and no points for a loss. The two best teams in each group, as well as the four best-performing third-placed teams, will advance to the round of 16.
From the round of 16 onwards, the tournament becomes a direct knockout competition, going through the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final to determine the champion.
Group A: Germany, Scotland, Hungary, Switzerland
Group B: Spain, Croatia, Italy, Albania
Group C: Slovenia, Denmark, Serbia, England
Group D: Poland, Netherlands, Austria, France
Group E: Belgium, Slovakia, Romania, Ukraine
Group F: Türkiye, Georgia, Portugal, Czech Republic
Berlin Olympic Stadium (71,000)
Cologne Stadium (43,000)
BVB Dortmund Stadium (62,000)
Düsseldorf Arena (47,000)
Frankfurt Arena (47,000)
AufSchalke Arena, Gelsenkirchen (50,000)
Volksparkstadion, Hamburg (49,000)
Leipzig Stadium (40,000)
Munich Football Arena (66,000)
Stuttgart Arena (51,000)
Italy won the last Euro, held in 2021, because the original tournament was postponed for a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Italy beat England in the final at Wembley Stadium in a penalty shootout.
Germany and Spain have won the Euros on three occasions.
The only other multiple winners are Italy and France, with two each.
O Great Portuguese is competing in a record sixth European Championships.
Going into the tournament, he already holds the record for the most appearances at the Euros, with 25, and the most goals, with 14.
Ronaldo, 39, won the competition with Portugal in 2016.
Ronaldo, who plays for Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia, was an icon for Manchester United and Real Madrid. He won five Champions Leagues and the Ballon d’Or for best player in the world on five occasions.
Despite being one of the most prolific scorers in world football, Manchester City striker Haaland was unable to fire his team, Norway, for euros. Norway also failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup.
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James Robson is in https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson
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This story originally appeared on ABCNews.go.com read the full story
