Euro 2020 – The Basics; What you need to know
The Euros is a competition that has been going since 1960. Formally known as the UEFA European Championships, countries from around Europe compete in this tournament once every four years in a bid to lift the Henri Delaunay Trophy. The 2020 tournament was postponed due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, and it was re-scheduled for the Summer of 2021. The location of the tournament will change every 4 years, ultimately allowing as many nations as possible to profit from the lucrative event.
If you are planning to watch this year’s event, there are a few basics that you will need to know to familiarise yourself with the tournament.
Format
The format of the tournament is different today than it originally was back in 1960. Hosted by France in 1960, there were just 4 teams competing for the prize, Czechoslovakia and Soviet Union, France and Yugoslavia played a Semi-Final against each other. Soviet Union and Yugoslavia were victors, with Soviet Union eventually winning the final. Czechoslovakia and France fought it out for 3rd place versus Czechoslovakia comfortably winning on that occasion.
In 1980, the tournament was expanded to 8 teams. This is the first time we saw a group stage format. 2 groups of 4 with the winners of each group going on to compete in a final match, with the runners-up in the group playing out for 3rd. It was to be West Germany that would win this 8-team event hosted in Italy. They beat Belgium 2-1 in the final in Rome.
16 years later, in 1996, the games were to be hosted by England and it would mark the first time 16 teams were to enter. 4 groups of 4 with the top 2 from each group qualifying for the Quarter-Finals.
This year’s tournament will see 24 teams taking part. There will be 6 groups containing 4 teams with the top 2 automatically qualifying for the knockout stages. The Groups are named from Group A-Group F. There is a separate group of 6 that contains each of the 3rd placed teams from Group A-Group F. The best 4, 3rd placed teams will go on to make the knockout stages, creating 16 teams in the knockouts.
Who to Predict to Win the Euro 2020
There are plenty of winners markets to predict for the Euro 2020 international finals, you just need to know which markets are available. For the Euro 2020 possible winners, lookout for the outright winners betting markets across various bookmakers that swap between England and France as their favourite. You will also find dark horses like Turkey and many of these underdogs will come with enhanced odds bets. However, you can also bet on group stage winners, quarter and semi final winners as well as winners of the golden boot, golden glove, and the team that scores the most goals!
Stadiums
Euro 2020 will be a little different from any previous tournament. It has been described as a Pan-European event, meaning that there will be multiple countries hosting games. There have only been 3 other occasions where there have been multiple hosts, but during those events, there were only 2 countries hosting. Euro 2020 will be hosted in 11 different cities, by 11 different countries, spreading from East to West across the continent.
From North-Easterly, Saint Petersburg to the South-East Azerbaijani capital, Baku, across to the South-West, Spanish city of Seville and up to Glasgow in the North-West. Other cities hit on the way will be Bucharest, Munich, Rome, Budapest, Copenhagen, Amsterdam and London. With the ongoing pandemic, each stadium will be subject to different regulations. Each stadium will also have a different percentage of spectators allowed to gain entry.
Match-Rules
Something unique to this tournament will be the ability for teams to make up to 5 substitutions throughout the game, it should be noted that each team will be allowed only 3 opportunities to make the substitutions. An additional substitution and opportunity are given if the game goes to extra-time. VAR will make its first appearance at the Euro Championship during this tournament.
