Frankfurt/Main (dpa) – With the start of the qualification, things are finally heading in the direction of the European Football Championship 2024. Those responsible in Germany around tournament boss Philipp Lahm are dreaming of another summer fairy tale, national coach Hansi Flick and his team have sported after the early World Cup knockout Qatar to make amends.
The most important questions with a view to the tournament, which starts 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 21st, ten qualifying groups will be played – the first and second will buy their ticket for the final tournament. The very first week has top games to offer: on Thursday (8.45 p.m.) European champions Italy will welcome England in a new edition of the European Championship final in Naples, on Friday (8.45 p.m.) vice world champions France will play against them in the Stade de France in Saint-Denis demanded the Netherlands.
In Group B with the Netherlands and France, Greece and Ireland should have a hard time. Ukraine, who have to take on the two finalists of 2021, are also just outsiders. As Belgium’s new head coach, German coach Domenico Tedesco has to deal with Sweden and Austria, among others. Spain, Denmark, Portugal and World Cup third-placed Croatia, on the other hand, found manageable groups. The remaining three EM places will be awarded at a qualifying tournament in March 2024 – a special way to the major tournament, for which nations qualify via the Nations League introduced by UEFA.
What role does the German team play?
No. The team of national coach Flick has already qualified as hosts, but could have played in one of the qualification 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, followed by the game against Belgium on March 28th.
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.
When will EM tickets be available and 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 the final venue 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. There are only 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: “Kick everyone out!” We currently see no reason to do that,” Ceferin told “Sport Bild” in October Align country and without spectators.
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