No matter how much club football one watches, the happiness of catching an international tournament is a different vibe. It is the logic of limited availability at play that adds the special touch. After all, club tournaments like water are consumed around the year for necessity while an international tournament like a grand feast comes at last after long intervals.
Similar is the delight experienced by those watching the EURO 2024. This quadrennial (taking place every four years) football tournament is a month-long football carnival which will determine the Champion of Europe, as 24 nation teams fight it out, all for the top prize.
Euro Cup as the name suggests is a football tournament played amongst only the European nations to determine the best team of the continent. The previous addition- Euro 2020 was won by Italy as the Azzurri went on to beat England on penalties in a dramatic finale at Wembley Stadium.
Let’s gear up for a month of football fever and update ourselves with some essential knowledge about the tournament and also read some mind-boggling facts.
The host of the party
Germany is the host nation for EURO 2024, with iconic stadiums in ten beautiful cities. This is the first major international football tournament hosted by Germany since the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
The young lad on the field
Spanish forward Lamine Yamal became the youngest player to participate in the European Championship. He played in Spain’s opening game against Croatia at only 16 years and 338 days of age.
The fastest of them all
Albanianmidfielder Nedim Bajrami scored the fastest goal in European Championship history. He scored against defending champions Italy in just 23 seconds in their opening group game.
Meet the fit oldies!
After starting against the Czech Republic, Portugal’s fiery defender Pepe became the oldest player to play in the European Championship. He is 41 years old!
Did you know…?
Turkey also wanted to host the EURO 2024 and had successfully submitted its bid before losing out to Germany in the final voting.
The missing giants
Sweden failed to qualify for Euro 2024. They could not qualify for the 2022 World Cup as well.
Russia was banned from the competition following its invasion of Ukraine. This is the first European championship they will miss since Euro 2000.
Wales too failed to qualify as they lost to Poland on penalties in the final playoffs qualifying match.
What’s the official anthem for this year?
It is Fire by Italian DJ group Meduza, American rock band One Republic, and German singer Leony.
The official mascot
Albärt- A cute brown teddy bear with a football T-shirt and shorts on.
The name of the match ball
Quite tough to pronounce, the official football for the tournament is named ‘Fussballliebe’ which in German translates as the ‘Love of football’
So, catch the tournament live every evening and stay tuned to the Apeejay Newsroom for Euro 2024 match analysis and other fun articles!