[lPrediction in=”Euro 2020″]
The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 or simply Euro 2020, is scheduled to be the 16th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men’s football championship of Europe organised by UEFA.
It is scheduled to be held in 12 cities in 12 European countries from 12 June to 12 July 2020. Portugal are the defending champions, winning the 2016 edition. For the first time, the video assistant referee (VAR) system will be used at the UEFA European Championship.
There is no automatic qualifying berth, and all 55 UEFA national teams, including the 12 national teams whose countries are scheduled to stage matches, must compete in the qualifiers for the 24 places at the finals tournament. The main qualifying process is now scheduled to begin in March 2019, instead of immediately in September 2018 following the 2018 FIFA World Cup, and is scheduled to end in November 2019. The 55 teams will be drawn into 10 groups after the completion of the UEFA Nations League (five groups of five teams and five groups of six teams, with the four UEFA Nations League Finals participants guaranteed to be drawn into groups of five teams), with the top two teams in each group qualifying.
Following the qualifying group stage, the qualifying play-offs will take place in March 2020. Unlike previous editions, the participants of the play-offs will not be decided based on results from the qualifying group stage. Instead, 16 teams will be selected based on their performance in the Nations League. These teams will be divided into four paths, each containing four teams, with one team from each path qualifying for the final tournament. Each league will have its own play-off path if at least four teams are available. The Nations League group winners will automatically qualify for the play-off path of their league. If a group winner has already qualified through the conventional qualifying group stage, they will be replaced by the next best-ranked team in the same league. However, if there are not enough teams in the same league, then the spot will go to the next best team in the overall ranking.
Each play-off path will feature two single-leg semi-finals, and one single-leg final. The best-ranked team will host the fourth-ranked team, and the second-ranked team will host the third-ranked team. The host of the final will be decided by a draw, with semi-final winner 1 or 2 hosting the final. The four play-off path winners will join the 20 teams which have already qualified for UEFA Euro 2020.
In addition to the competition, European champions Portugal are likely to have legend Cristiano Ronaldo back in the team. He sat out the entire Nations League to give him time to adjust to life in Italian football with Juventus, but he says he is now ready to return.
Ronaldo, with 85 goals, is the second top scorer in international history, 24 behind Iran icon Ali Daei.
World champions France are the favourites to win Euro 2020, although they lost their most recent competitive game 2-0 to the Netherlands in the Nations League.
Switzerland, Italy, Denmark, Austria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Poland, Serbia, Russia, the Czech Republic, Wales, Sweden and Turkey are most likely to complete the 20 direct qualifiers for Euro 2020.
Yet not to forget, Germany has played the most games in European Championship. Their total tally is 47. They have won 26 of them. The teams with the most losses are Denmark and Russia. Both have lost 14 games. Italy has managed to end the most matches with a draw (16).
Michel Platini and Cristiano Ronaldo are leading the goal scorer table. They have both scored 9 goals during the tournament. The third place is held by Alan Shearer who has scored on 8 occasions.
And the final will be right here on home soil, with Wembley Stadium playing host to the showdown on July 12, 2020. Other venues include Hampden Park, the Stadio Olimpico and the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.
All information can be access from : https://eurogoal.eu/en/