The Euro 2016 will be the 15th edition of the UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe organized by UEFA. It is scheduled to be held in France from June 10, 2016 to July 10, 2016. It will be the third time that France hosts the tournament, after the inaugural tournament in 1960 and the 1984 finals.
For the first time, the European Championship tournament have 24 teams, having been expanded from the 16-team format used since 1996. Under this new format, the finalists will contest a group stage consisting of six groups of four teams each, followed by a knockout stage of three rounds and the final.
France was chosen as the host nation on May 28, 2010 after a bidding process in which they beat Italy and Turkey for the right to host the 2016 finals. The matches will be played in ten stadia in ten cities: Bordeaux, Lens, Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Nice, Paris, Saint-Denis, Saint-Étienne, and Toulouse.
The following are the six groups and the teams
Group A: France, Romania, Albania and Switzerland
Group B: England, Russia, Wales and Slovakia
Group C: Germany, Ukraine, Poland and Northern Ireland
Group D: Spain, Czech Republic, Turkey, Croatia
Group E: Belgium, Italy, Republic of Ireland, Sweden
Group F: Portugal, Iceland, Austria and Hungary
In the round of 16, UEFA have arranged the match-ups to take place as follows:
Match 1: Runner-up Group A v Runner-up Group C
Match 2: Winner Group D v 3rd Place Group B/E/F
Match 3: Winner Group B v 3rd Place Group A/C/D
Match 4: Winner Group F v Runner-up Group E
Match 5: Winner Group C v 3rd Place Group A/B/F
Match 6: Winner Group E v Runner-up Group D
Match 7: Winner Group A v 3rd Place Group C/D/E
Match 8: Runner-up Group B v Runner-up Group F
The quarter-final match-ups are:
Quarter-final 1: Winner Match 1 v Winner Match 2
Quarter-final 2: Winner Match 3 v Winner Match 4
Quarter-final 3: Winner Match 5 v Winner Match 6
Quarter-final 4: Winner Match 7 v Winner Match 8
The semi-final match-ups are:
Semi-final 1: Winner Quarter-final 1 v Winner Quarter-final 2
Semi-final 2: Winner Quarter-final 3 v Winner Quarter-final 4
Group C and Group E seems to be the toughest in the group stages. Some surprises may happen in Group D.
In Group A, Didier Deschamps-coached France would be the team to watch out for. The host has won the Euro cup twice, in 1984 and 2000. As hosts, France did not participate in the qualifying rounds. France also has home advantage as the fans will vociferously support them. France is ranked 21 in the FIFA rankings.
In Group B, England and Russia are the teams to watch out for. Roy Hodgson's team has some world-class players like Wayne Rooney, Jamie Vardy, Theo Walcott and Joe Hart. England is ranked 10. Russia, coached by Leonid Slutski, will give England a run for its money on June 12, 2016. The Russian squad has also some world-class stars like Igor Akinfeev, Igor Smolnikov, Artem Dzyuba and Aleksandr Kokorin. Russia's ranking is 28.
Group C consists of some interesting matches, Germany vs Ukraine, Ukraine vs Poland, Germany vs Poland. Winner of FIFA World Cup 2014, Germany is expected to show its skills in Euro 2016 also. This Joachim Loew team has the potential to reach the top four. With Manuel Neuer as goalkeeper, this team has some world-class stars like Mesut Ozil, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Lukas Podalski, Thomas Muller and Mario Gomez. The current ranking of Germany is 5.
Ukraine coached by Mykhailo Fomenko, has a right mix of players to make it to the top. It has Andriy Pyatov, Andriy Yarmolenko, Artem Kravets and Denys Garmash in their line-up. Ukraine's current ranking is 22.
Poland coached Adam Nawalka, has Lukasz Fabianski, Kamil Grosicki, Robert Lewandowski and Arkadiusz Milik in its ranks. On October 11, 2014, Poland defeated Germany 2-0 in one of the most memorable Euro match. The team is expected to give fright to Germany and Ukraine. Poland current ranking is 27.
The match to watch out for in Group D is Spain versus Croatia. The dark horses Czech Republic and Turkey might give these two teams a run for their money. This Vicente del Bosque coached team, Spain has Iker Casillas as the goalkeeper, one of the world’s best. Besides Casillas, Spain has of Gerard Pique, Cesc Fabregas, Andres Iniesta, David Silva and Pedro Rodríguez. This team can go a long way in Euro 2016 and has ability to reach the semifinals. The current world ranking of Spain is 6. Croatia is ranked 23rd in the FIFA world rankings. The team is coached by Ante Cacic. The Croatian team on a good day can turn the tables against the fancied team in the league. It has the experienced Danijel Subasic as its goalkeeper and has some good players like Domagoj Vida, Marcelo Brozovic, Ivan Rakitic, Mario Mandzukic and Ivica Olic. Turkey is ranked 13th in the FIFA World rankings. The team is coached by Fatih Terim and has some world-class players like Haken Balta, Caner Erkin, Mehmet Topal, Hakan Calhanoglu and Burak Yılmaz.
In Group E, the must-watch match is Sweden versus Italy. The Sweden team is coached by Erik Hamren and has players like Andreas Isaksson, Andreas Granqvist, Martin Olsson, Erkan Zengin, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Marcus Berg. Though Sweden is ranked 36th in the FIFA world rankings, this team has the fire power to reach at least to the quarterfinal stage. The 15th ranked Italy is coached by Antonio Conte. Who can forget this goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon? The team consists of some excellent mid-fielders, defenders and forwards like Leonardo Bonucci, Matteo Darmian, Alessandro Florenzi, Antonio Candreva, Sebastian Giovinco, Eder and Graziano Pelle. The team has the ability to reach the top four in this UEFA football tournament. Belgium, ranked 2nd in FIFA rankings, is coached by Marc Wilmots. Belgium has played some wonderful football in the recent times and rose to No.2 in the FIFA rankings led by Argentina. The team has players of class like Thibaut Courtois, Toby Alderweireld, Vincent Kompany, Jan Vertonghen, Kevin De Bruyne, Radja Nainggolan, Marouane Fellaini and Dries Mertens. If Belgium continues its current form, they can make it to the last four. Republic of Ireland is ranked 31 in FIFA rankings.
Group F consists of Portugal, Iceland, Austria and Hungary. Portugal is ranked 8th in the FIFA rankings and is coached by Fernando Santos. Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the world-class players and captain of Portugal team. By the age of 22, Ronaldo had received Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year nominations. Besides him, the team has a good mix of mid-fielders, defenders and forwards like Ricardo Carvalho, Pepe, Adrien Silva, Joao Moutinho, Tiago, Nani, and Eder. In Euro 2008, Portugal reached the quarterfinal stage and in 2012, they were knocked out by Spain, the eventual winner. Iceland is ranked 35 in the FIFA rankings but has a mix of good players in the team. The 11th ranked Austria can spring a surprise against Portugal if they play to their potential. Recently, they had a good time and has risen in the FIFA rankings. This Marcel Koller-coached team has some excellent footballers like Robert Almer, Aleksandar Dragovic, Florian Klein, Zlatko Junuzovic, Marko Arnautovic and Martin Harnik. If Austria continue its recent form, they can make it to the quarterfinal stage. Hungary, ranked 18th in FIFA rankings, considered to be a dark-horse in thie group. They can pull off some surprises. This Bernd Storck-coached team has some good players like Gabor Kiraly, Attila Fiola, Tamas Kadar, Balazs Dzsudzsak, Zoltan Gera, Nemanja Nikolic and Ádam Szalai.
By all standards, the fans are expected to watch some good football for one month and the stadiums will be filled in with vociferous fans waving their favourite country's flags and backing their team to the core.
According to UEFA reports, the TV audience were about 299 million for the Euro 2012 final between Spain and Italy. Can this figure be nullified this time? Let's have a breather till July 10.
