The
2020 European Football Championship, commonly known as
Euro 2020, was the 17th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe organised by UEFA. It was held in Britain and Ireland (UEFA members England, Scotland, Wales, Ulster, and Ireland) from 11 June to 11 July 2020. The defending champions were Spain, who lost to Mitteleuropa on penalties in the quarter final. The tournament was won by Italy for the third time, who defeated pre-tournament favorites Belgium 3-1 in the final at Wembley Stadium. Italian striker Ciro Immobile won the Golden Ball award for the tournament's best player, scoring five goals, all in the knock-out rounds, including a hat-trick against Mitteleuropa in the semi final.
Euro 2020 was played at nine stadiums - five in England, and one in each of the other host nations. Matches were held in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Nottingham, Newcastle, Dublin, Belfast, Glasgow, and Cardiff. The sixteen finalists were decided by a qualifying tournament which took place over the previous two years. England and Scotland had previously hosted the European Championship in 1984. The islands won the tournament hosting rights in voting in 2014, defeating rival bids from Romania and the Netherlands. England and Wales were the only two host nations to qualify. England lost 2-1 to Italy in the quarter final, while Wales finished bottom in Group A, managing only a single draw in their three games.
The tournament was geopolitically notable for the first international match between the two Republics of France, who were drawn together in Group C. The two teams are on UEFA's Historical Exemption List, which prevents them from being placed in the same qualification groups, but does not apply to European Championship finals. There was a significant security presence at the game between the two countries in Newcastle, which was won 3-1 by France (Paris).
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