There is a very strange and worth watching Euro

Eurovery strange

The ball has not rolled yet but Euro 2020 still promises to be an exciting and dramatic tournament.

The first strange thing is that although Euro takes place in 2021, it still retains the name Euro 2020. This is the first Euro to take place in 11 different countries with 51 matches.

Of the 11 host cities and countries, seven and six have never hosted a European Championship finals match before. Each city will host three group stage matches and one round of 16 or quarter-final match, with Saint Petersburg hosting six group stage matches and London hosting two round of 16 matches.

Competing in the Covid-19 pandemic situation, UEFA has approved the maximum use of substitutions in the tournament matches (and an additional 6th substitution in extra time).

Euro 2020 does not have a direct group stage, and all 55 UEFA national teams, including the 12 hosts from the six groups, have to compete in qualifying to choose the 24 teams that will make it to the finals. Finland and North Macedonia are participating in the European Championship for the first time, while this is the 12th time for Germany (leading the number of appearances), followed by Russia (11 times), Spain (10 times). Reigning champions Portugal are also only participating in the Euro for the 7th time.

UEFA requires stadium organizers to develop their own plans for serving spectators based on the recommendations of local health authorities. The largest capacity belongs to Wembley Stadium (London) with 90,000 seats, the smallest is Parken Stadium (Copenhagen), the stadiums will be open to spectators at least 25% capacity. Each participating team has the right to choose a "team headquarters" to live and only train and reside at these locations throughout the tournament, not freely moving hotels like previous tournaments.

And well worth watching.

In terms of expertise, of course, the biggest candidates for the Euro 2020 championship this time are in the seed group including Germany, England, Spain, Belgium, Italy and Ukraine. The French team, the reigning World Cup champion, is only ranked in the second seed group, showing how fierce the competition on the European football field is.

It is quite surprising that the defending champion Portugal is in group 3 and group F is considered the "group of death" with 4 teams: Germany, France, Portugal and Hungary. Group D is also considered quite tough with 4 European football talents including: England, Croatia, Scotland, Czech Republic which European experts all say are "equally matched".