Euro 2024: Confirmed teams, favourites and everything you need to know about this summer's tournament in Germany

The 17th edition of UEFA's continental championship takes place in June and July, when Italy will defend the title claimed at Wembley three years ago.

While West Germany hosted the 1988 event, it will be the first time Germany has staged the Euros since reunification, and the 2006 World Cup hosts are renowned for putting on a great show.

Here, Sports Mole explains how Europe's festival of football will work - and which nations are among the favourites to prevail on 14 July.

When will the tournament kick off?

Friday 14 June will see the first ball kicked in a month-long event, and as the host nation, Germany are seeded in Group A so play the opening match.

With the eyes of the world upon them, Scotland's Tartan Army will march on Munich for the opening game of Euro 2024, and the group stage then runs until 26 June.

Then, following two rest days, the 16-team knockout stage begins on 29 June.

How will it work?

As in the delayed 2020 finals, the top two in each of six groups will proceed to the knockout phase this summer, along with the four best third-placed finishers.

Specific match-ups in the last 16 will depend on which third-placed teams qualify, so mapping out a potential route to the final can prove tricky.

In the knockout rounds, games that are level at the end of 90 minutes go to extra time; if still tied after another 30 minutes, the match is then decided by a penalty shootout.

As with every championship since Euro 1984, there is to be no third-place playoff, so only two teams will be left standing after the semi-finals.

Group A

Germany

Previous Euros: 13 (*including as West Germany), most recently Euro 2020

Best result: Winners (1972*, 1980*, 1996)

Euro 2020: Last 16

Qualification: Hosts

Manager: Julian Nagelsmann

Fixtures: Scotland (June 14), Hungary (June 19), Switzerland (June 23)

Scotland

Previous Euros: three, most recently Euro 2020

Best result: Group stage (1992, 1996, 2020)

Euro 2020: Group stage

Qualification: Group A runners-up

Manager: Steve Clarke

Fixtures: Germany (June 14), Switzerland (June 29), Hungary (June 23)

Hungary

Previous Euros: four, most recently Euro 2020

Best result: Third (1964)

Euro 2020: Group stage

Qualification: Group G winners

Manager: Marco Rossi

Fixtures: Switzerland (June 15), Germany (June 19), Scotland (June 23)

Switzerland

Previous Euros: five, most recently Euro 2020

Best result: Quarter-finals (2020)

Euro 2020: Quarter-finals

Qualification: Group I runners-up

Manager: Murat Yakin

Fixtures: Hungary (June 15), Scotland (June 19), Germany (June 23)

Group B

Spain

Previous Euros: 11, most recently Euro 2020

Best result: Winners (1964, 2008, 2012)

Euro 2020: Semi-finals

Qualification: Group A winners

Manager: Luis de la Fuente

Fixtures: Croatia (June 15), Italy (June 20), Albania (June 24)

Croatia

Previous Euros: six, most recently Euro 2020

Best result: Quarter-finals (1996, 2008)

Euro 2020: Last 16

Qualification: Group D runners-up

Manager: Zlatko Dalic

Fixtures: Spain (June 15), Albania (June 19), Italy (June 24)

Italy

Previous Euros: 10, most recently Euro 2020

Best result: Winners (1968, 2020)

Euro 2020: Winners

Qualification: Group C runners-up

Manager: Luciano Spalletti

Fixtures: Albania (June 15), Spain (June 20), Croatia (June 24)

Albania

Previous Euros: one, Euro 2016

Best result: Group stage (2016)

Euro 2020: Did not qualify

Qualification: Group E winners

Manager: Sylvinho

Fixtures: Italy (June 15), Croatia (June 19), Spain (June 24)

Group C

Slovenia

Previous Euros: one, Euro 2000

Best result: Group stage (2000)

Euro 2020: Did not qualify

Qualification: Group H runners-up

Manager: Matjaz Kek

Fixtures: Denmark (June 16), Serbia (June 20), England (June 25)

Denmark

Previous Euros: nine, most recently Euro 2020

Best result: Winners (1992)

Euro 2020: Semi-finals

Qualification: Group H winners

Manager: Kasper Hjulmand

Fixtures: Slovenia (June 16), England (June 20), Serbia (June 25)

Serbia

Previous Euros: five (*including as Yugoslavia), most recently Euro 2000

Best result: Runners-up (1960*, 1968*)

Euro 2020: Did not qualify

Qualification: Group G runners-up

Manager: Dragan Stojkovic

Fixtures: England (June 16), Slovenia (June 20), Denmark (June 25)

England

Previous Euros: 10, most recently Euro 2020

Best result: Runners-up (2020)

Euro 2020: Runners-up

Qualification: Group C winners

Manager: Gareth Southgate

Fixtures: Serbia (June 16), Denmark (June 20), Slovenia (June 25)

Group D

Poland

Previous Euros: four, most recently Euro 2020

Best result: Quarter-finals (2016)

Euro 2020: Group stage

Qualification: Playoff Path A winners

Manager: Michal Probierz

Fixtures: Netherlands (June 16), Austria (June 21), France (June 25)

Netherlands

Previous Euros: 10, most recently Euro 2020

Best result: Winners (1988)

Euro 2020: Last 16

Qualification: Group B runners-up

Manager: Ronald Koeman

Fixtures: Poland (June 16), France (June 21), Austria (June 25)

Austria

Previous Euros: three, most recently Euro 2020

Best result: Last 16 (2020)

Euro 2020: Last 16

Qualification: Group F runners-up

Manager: Ralf Rangnick

Fixtures: France (June 17), Poland (June 21), Netherlands (June 25)

France

Previous Euros: 10, most recently Euro 2020

Best result: Winners (1984, 2000)

Euro 2020: Last 16

Qualification: Group B winners

Manager: Didier Deschamps

Fixtures: Austria (June 17), Netherlands (June 21), Poland (June 25)

Group E

Belgium

Previous Euros: six, most recently Euro 2020

Best result: Runners-up (1980)

Euro 2020: Quarter-finals

Qualification: Group F winners

Manager: Domenico Tedesco

Fixtures: Slovakia (June 17), Romania (June 22), Ukraine (June 26)

Slovakia

Previous Euros: five (*including as Czechoslovakia, most recently Euro 2020)

Best result: Winners (1976*)

Euro 2020: Group stage

Qualification: Group J runners-up

Manager: Francesco Calzona

Fixtures: Belgium (June 17), Ukraine (June 21), Romania (June 26)

Romania

Previous Euros: five, most recently Euro 2016

Best result: Quarter-finals (2000)

Euro 2020: Did not qualify

Qualification: Group I winners

Manager: Edward Iordanescu

Fixtures: Ukraine (June 17), Belgium (June 22), Slovakia (June 26)

Ukraine

Previous Euros: three, most recently Euro 2020

Best result: Quarter-finals (2020)

Euro 2020: Quarter-finals

Qualification: Playoff Path B winners

Manager: Serhiy Rebrov

Fixtures: Romania (June 17), Slovakia (June 21), Belgium (June 26)

Group F

Turkey

Previous Euros: five, most recently Euro 2020

Best result: Semi-finals (2008)

Euro 2020: Group stage

Qualification: Group D winners

Manager: Vincenzo Montella

Fixtures: Georgia (June 18), Portugal (June 22), Czech Republic (June 26)

Georgia

Previous Euros: none

Best result: N/A

Euro 2020: Did not qualify

Qualification: Playoff Path C winners

Manager: Willy Sagnol

Fixtures: Turkey (June 18), Czech Republic (June 22), Portugal (June 26)

Portugal

Previous Euros: eight, most recently Euro 2020

Best result: Winners (2016)

Euro 2020: Last 16

Qualification: Group J winners

Manager: Roberto Martinez

Fixtures: Czech Republic (June 18), Turkey (June 22), Georgia (June 26)

Czech Republic

Previous Euros: 10 (*including as Czechoslovakia), most recently Euro 2020

Best result: Winners (1976*)

Euro 2020: Quarter-finals

Qualification: Group E runners-up

Manager: Ivan Hasek

Fixtures: Portugal (June 18), Georgia (June 22), Turkey (June 26)

Who are the Euro 2024 favourites - and who might win the Golden Boot?

After the identity of all 24 teams was confirmed following the playoffs, England are 10/3 favourites to go one better than in 2021, while most bookmakers have France at 7/2, and hosts Germany are generally 6/1.

Iberian rivals Spain and Portugal sit just behind that top trio, with reigning champions Italy joining Belgium and the Netherlands among the longer shots for continental glory.

En route to the finals, six teams stayed unbeaten through qualifying - France, England, Portugal, Belgium, Romania and Hungary - and the Portuguese squad of Roberto Martinez was the only one to have won every match.

The Selecao wrapped up their group having scored 36 goals and conceded just two, but the overall top scorer was Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku, who racked up 14 goals in just eight games.

Cristiano Ronaldo (10), Kylian Mbappe (nine), Harry Kane (eight) and Denmark's Rasmus Hojlund (seven) were left trailing in his wake, but all four could be in contention for the European Championship's Golden Boot in July.

The venues

Nine of the stadiums used at Germany 2006 will see action this summer, in addition to the Dusseldorf Arena, with Bayern Munich's Allianz Arena having also played a part in hosting the continent-wide finals of Euro 2020.

Three years ago, the Bavarian venue could only welcome a reduced number of spectators due to COVID-19 restrictions, but it will surely be full to the brim this time around.

The atmospheric Signal Iduna Park, home of Borussia Dortmund's famed 'yellow wall', will also host several group games, plus a last-16 tie and one of the semi-finals.

Major cities such as Bremen and Monchengladbach were left out, but the 10 selected stadia are spread across all the main regions of Germany.

Full list of venues for Euro 2024:

Berlin: Olympiastadion (70,000 capacity)

Cologne: Cologne Stadium (47,000),

Dortmund: BVB Stadion Dortmund (66,000)

Dusseldorf: Dusseldorf Arena (47,000)

Frankfurt: Frankfurt Arena (48,000)

Gelsenkirchen: Arena AufSchalke (50,000)

Hamburg: Volksparkstadion Hamburg (50,000)

Leipzig: Leipzig Stadium (42,000)

Munich: Munich Football Arena (67,000)

Stuttgart: Stuttgart Arena (54,000)

The final

Bringing a month of relentless competition to its climax, Berlin's Olympiastadion plays host to the Euro 2024 final on Sunday 14 July.

The cavernous stadium has already hosted several significant matches in football hisory, including during the 1974 and 2006 World Cups - notably the latter's epic final, between Italy and France.