The Uefa European Championship trophy on the stage
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The Euro 2024 finals draw takes place in Hamburg, Germany this evening with England, Scotland and Wales among the teams waiting to learn their fate.
Gareth Southgate and Steve Clarke’s sides are guaranteed a place in Germany after successful qualification campaigns, while Robert Page will hope the Dragons can negotiate the play-offs to book their place too.
Germany football is in a peculiar place, with Julian Nagelsmann now in charge, and rising tension between the federation and the Bundesliga offers a strange dynamic to the build-up to next summer’s tournament. The hosts will begin their bid for a fourth European crown, having last won the trophy on English soil at Euro 96, defeating Czech Republic 2-1 thanks to Oliver Bierhoff’s golden goal.
Follow live updates as each team learns their opponents and path to the final in Berlin on 14 July, plus reaction and analysis from our chief football writer Miguel Delaney in Hamburg:
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Why winless Iceland are in Euro 2024 play-offs and 10-point Norway are not
The Euro 2024 play-offs offer one last chance for European nations to reach next summer’s major tournament in Germany. The three remaining spots will be contested by 12 teams in the play-offs in March, but how those dozen teams were decided is complicated, and contentious too.
The 2022/23 Uefa Nations League standings were used to select those 12 teams, with four each entering the play-offs from Nations Leagues A, B and C, setting up three paths to three different finals, for the chance to reach the Euros.
By way of a reminder, each Nations ‘League’ contained four groups of four (other than League D, but let’s not get bogged down in that now). So that’s 12 groups in Leagues A, B and C, and each group winner received a pass to the play-offs. However, if a group winner made Euro 2024 automatically, through regular qualifying, the country in their Nations League with the next highest points tally would take up their play-off spot.
Why winless Iceland are in Euro 2024 play-offs and 10-point Norway are not
Iceland flunked the Nations League while Norway flew, but only one have earnt a place in the Euro 2024 play-offs as result – and it’s not Norway
England have qualified for Euro 2024 — now it’s about winning it
The main fact of this 3-1 win was that England have qualified for Euro 2024, but the whole feel was why they should be talking about winning it rather than being too concerned any more with the formality of getting there.
A historic major nation like Italy were just made look a minor inconvenience, as Gareth Southgate’s side almost toyed with them. They were just so much better, and have a knowledge of that personified in Jude Bellingham. Harry Kane got two and Marcus Rashford scored a brilliant goal to make it 2-1, but all of that seemed mere detail to the main event, which was the Real Madrid midfielder’s domination of the pitch and decoration of the play.
This England era has now been going on for at least six years, but it is possible that Bellingham’s emergence marks the beginning of something else. He has exactly the type of assurance that can turn fine challengers into elite champions. It is visible in everything he does, not least the outrageous touch for the Rashford goal that sent England to Germany for next summer.
England have qualified for Euro 2024 — now it’s about winning it
England 3-1 Italy: In a rematch of the Euro 2020 final at Wembley, Gareth Southgate’s side looked like potential European champions as they set the bar for Germany
Uefa announces changes to Women’s Champions League and second European competition
A new format for the Women’s Champions League has been approved by the Uefa executive committee.
There is currently only the Women’s Champions League, which has 16 teams in the group stages, and there is no second-tier competition, while there are three men’s competitions, all run by Uefa.
The women’s competition has also come under scrutiny recently for the qualification system, which saw Jonas Eidevall’s Arsenal’s European dreams come to an end at the hands of Paris FC on 9 September, less than three weeks after the Women’s World Cup final.
Arsenal had reached the semi-finals of the competition the year before, but struggled against the French side, before they exited the tournament on a penalty shootout.
Uefa announces changes to Women’s Champions League and second European competition
Uefa has approved changes to the format of the Women’s Champions League from the 2025-26 season
Euro 2024 draw arrives with a twist amid German football’s rising tension
As legends like Gianluigi Buffon and Miroslav Klose start to decide what Euro 2024 will look like, most of its audience will be watching the Premier League and the other domestic competitions. That will of course change by June, but 5pm Saturday is a strange time for a draw, that maybe touches on the strange place both the competition and Uefa are in right now.
It’s not even like this draw holds the anxiety supporters used to associate with such events for major nations like England. That isn’t down to how good Gareth Southgate’s team are right now, either. No matter what names come out, over half of the competition will be spent eliminating a third of the field. The 36-game group stage will see 16 teams out of 24 go through to the next round.
It is literally harder to get knocked out. That has of course been the case for most of the qualification campaign, a problem when a competition has been so expanded. It almost feels like it would be better to just finally push the Euros out to a more symmetrical 32 teams and considerably shorten the way you get there. As it is, Buffon and Klose will almost be deciding another preliminary stage in Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie concert hall on Saturday. It should be acknowledged that Euro 2020 was immediately an entertaining tournament but it was still lopsided and it’s hard not to put part of the emotion down to the fact it was one of the first major events with crowds after Covid.
Euro 2024 draw arrives with a twist amid German football’s rising tension
Euro 2024 highlights the best and worst parts of Uefa and modern European football but, as Miguel Delaney outlines, the tournament comes at an intriguing time for the host nation
How to watch Uefa Euro 2024 finals draw
When is the Euro 2024 group stage draw?
The draw ceremony for the Euro 2024 group stage takes place on Saturday 2 December from 5pm GMT (6pm local time) in Hamburg.
How to watch
The Euro 2024 draw will be shown on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer from 5:15pm GMT. The draw will also be streamed live online on Uefa’s official website, YouTube channel and app.
What time is the Euro 2024 draw and what are the pots?
Germany will host the men’s European Championship
Euro 2024 finals draw
Welcome to Independent Sport’s coverage of the Euro 2024 finals draw ahead of next summer’s tournament in Germany.
England, Scotland and Wales, who will need to negotiate the play-offs, will discover their opponents for the group stages and a potential path to the Berlin final on 14 July.
Gareth Southgate’s Three Lions and France are the favourites, with defending champions Italy back in a major tournament after failing to qualify for the Qatar World Cup.
Follow all the build-up, live updates, analysis and reaction with our chief football writer Miguel Delaney in Hamburg.
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