UEFA Euro 2008
Tournament details
Host nations	Austria /  Switzerland
Dates	June 7 - June 29
Teams	16 (from 52 associations)
Venues	8 (in 8 host cities)
Tournament statistics
Matches	31

The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2008, will take place in Austria and Switzerland, from 7 to 29 June 2008. It is the second in a series of three successful joint bids in the competition's history, alongside the UEFA Euro 2000, hosted by Belgium and the Netherlands and the 2012 competition in Poland and Ukraine.

A total of 16 teams will participate in the tournament. Austria and Switzerland will automatically qualify as hosts; The remaining 14 teams have been determined through qualifying matches which started in August 2006. Austria and Poland will be making their first appearance in the tournament. The winner of Euro 2008 will represent the UEFA at the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup.

Bid process

The two countries jointly bid to host the games, and faced major competition from Greece/Turkey, Scotland/Ireland, Russia, Hungary, Croatia/Bosnia-Herzegovina and a 4-way Nordic bid from Norway/Sweden/Denmark/Finland. Austria had already bid with another country before, which was Hungary for Euro 2004. They had eventually lost to Portugal.

Austria/Switzerland, Greece/Turkey, and Hungary were recommended before the final vote. Greece and Turkey were rejected and let Hungary and Austria/Switzerland battle for the win.

Venues

Switzerland will play all of its group-stage matches at Basel, and Austria will play all of its group-stage matches at Vienna.

In 2004, the Zürich venue became a problem for the organisers. Originally, the Hardturm stadium was to be renovated and used as the city's venue, but legal challenges delayed the plan to a point that would not have allowed the ground to be used in 2008. This created a problem, as the agreement between UEFA and the organizers stipulated that four venues would be used in each country. The problem was solved when the organizers proposed renovating Letzigrund instead; UEFA approved the revised plan in January 2005. The Letzigrund stadium hosted its first football match on 23 September 2007.

Switzerland

Austria

New trophy

A new trophy will be awarded to the winners of the Euro 2008 tournament.

The new version of the Henri Delaunay Trophy, created by Asprey London, is almost an exact replica of the original designed by Arthus-Bertrand. A small figure juggling a ball on the back of the original has been removed, as has the marble plinth. The silver base of the trophy also had to be enlarged to make it stable. The names of the winning countries that had appeared on the plinth have now been engraved on the back of the trophy, which is made of sterling silver, weighs 8 kilograms and is 60 centimetres tall.

Qualifying

Main article: UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying

The draw for the qualifying round took place in Montreux, Switzerland on 27 January 2006 at 12:00 CET.

The qualifying process commenced a month after the 2006 World Cup. Austria and Switzerland automatically qualified for the tournament finals as host nations.

The qualifying format was changed compared to previous tournaments. The winners and runners-up from seven groups automatically qualified for the Championship, with the hosts filling the other two slots in the 16-team tournament. The change means there were no play-offs between teams finishing in second place in the groups - they qualified directly for the finals. Teams that finished in third place didn't have any further opportunity to qualify. Six of the qualifying groups contained seven teams, and the other, Group A, contained eight.

Qualified teams

Country	Qualified as	Date qualification was secured	Previous appearances in tournament1
Austria	00Co-hosts	00December 12, 2002	01 (debut appearance)
Switzerland	01Co-hosts	01December 12, 2002	21 (1996, 2004)
Poland	02Group A winners	09November 17, 2007	00 (debut appearance)
Portugal	03Group A runners-up	14November 21, 2007	4 (1984, 1996, 2000, 2004)
Italy	04Group B winners	06November 17, 2007	60 (1968, 1980, 1988, 1996, 2000, 2004)
France	05Group B runners-up	07November 17, 2007	61 (1960, 1984, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004)
Greece	06Group C winners	03October 17, 2007	23 (1980, 2004)
Turkey	07Group C runners-up	12November 21, 2007	22 (1996, 2000)
Czech Republic	08Group D winners	05October 17, 2007	62 (19602, 19762, 19802, 1996, 2000, 2004)
Germany	09Group D runners-up	02October 13, 2007	9 (19723, 19763, 19803, 19843, 19883, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004)
Croatia	10Group E winners	08November 17, 2007	20 (1996, 2004)
Russia	11Group E runners-up	15November 21, 2007	8 (19604, 19644, 19684, 19724, 19884, 19925, 1996, 2004)
Spain	12Group F winners	11November 17, 2007	71 (1964, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1996, 2000, 2004)
Sweden	13Group F runners-up	13November 21, 2007	30 (1992, 2000, 2004)
Romania	14Group G winners	04October 17, 2007	31 (1984, 1996, 2000)
Netherlands	15Group G runners-up	10November 17, 2007	70 (1976, 1980, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004)

¹ Bold indicates champion for that year

² as Czechoslovakia

³ as West Germany

⁴ as Soviet Union

⁵ as Commonwealth of Independent States

Seeding

The draw for the final tournament took place on 2 December 2007, beginning at 12:00 CET. The draw, which was held at Culture and Convention Centre in Lucerne, was conducted by the following people.

• Gianni Infantino, hosting the draw.
• Peter Schmeichel, conducting Pot 1 draw.
• Jürgen Klinsmann, conducting Pot 2 draw.
• Didier Deschamps, conducting Pot 3 draw.
• Theodoros Zagorakis, conducting Pot 4 draw.
• Bernard Dietz, conducting Group A draw.
• Anton Ondrus, conducting Group B draw.
• Franz Beckenbauer, conducting Group C draw.
• Dino Zoff, conducting Group D draw.

In a return to the format used at Euro 92 and Euro 96 the games in each group will be held at just two stadia, with the seeded team remaining in the same city for all three matches. As was the case at the 2000 and 2004 finals, the finalists were divided into 4 seeding pots, based on average points per game in the qualifying phases of the 2006 FIFA World Cup and Euro 2008, with each group having one team from each pot. Switzerland and Austria, as co-hosts, and Greece, as defending champions, were seeded first automatically. The Netherlands were seeded based on their UEFA coefficient in the Euro 2008 finalists ranking.

France's large number of draws in the 2006 World Cup qualifying tournament, plus their two defeats to Scotland in the UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying saw them seeded in the bottom pot (note that teams' records in the World Cup Finals are not counted).

Warm-up matches

Main article: UEFA Euro 2008 warm-up matches

Group stage

All times are Central European Summer Time (UTC+2)

Group A

Main article: UEFA Euro 2008 - Group A

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Switzerland	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Czech Republic	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Portugal	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Turkey	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

2008-06-07 18:00
	Switzerland	v	Czech Republic	St. Jakob-Park, Basel

2008-06-07 20:45
	Portugal	v	Turkey	Stade de Geneve, Geneva

2008-06-11 18:00
	Czech Republic	v	Portugal	Stade de Geneve, Geneva

2008-06-11 20:45
	Switzerland	v	Turkey	St. Jakob-Park, Basel

2008-06-15 20:45
	Switzerland	v	Portugal	St. Jakob-Park, Basel

2008-06-15 20:45
	Turkey	v	Czech Republic	Stade de Genève, Geneva

Group B

Main article: UEFA Euro 2008 - Group B

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Austria	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Croatia	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Germany	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Poland	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

2008-06-08 18:00
	Austria	v	Croatia	Ernst Happel Stadion, Vienna

2008-06-08 20:45
	Germany	v	Poland	Wörthersee Stadion, Klagenfurt

2008-06-12 18:00
	Croatia	v	Germany	Wörthersee Stadion, Klagenfurt

2008-06-12 20:45
	Austria	v	Poland	Ernst Happel Stadion, Vienna

2008-06-16 20:45
	Poland	v	Croatia	Wörthersee Stadion, Klagenfurt

2008-06-16 20:45
	Austria	v	Germany	Ernst Happel Stadion, Vienna

Group C

Main article: UEFA Euro 2008 - Group C

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Netherlands	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Italy	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Romania	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
France	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

2008-06-09 18:00
	Romania	v	France	Letzigrund Stadion, Zurich

2008-06-09 20:45
	Netherlands	v	Italy	Stade de Suisse, Wankdorf, Berne

2008-06-13 18:00
	Italy	v	Romania	Letzigrund Stadion, Zurich

2008-06-13 20:45
	Netherlands	v	France	Stade de Suisse, Wankdorf, Berne

2008-06-17 20:45
	Netherlands	v	Romania	Stade de Suisse, Wankdorf, Berne

2008-06-17 20:45
	France	v	Italy	Letzigrund Stadion, Zurich

Group D

Main article: UEFA Euro 2008 - Group D

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Greece	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Sweden	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Spain	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Russia	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

2008-06-10 18:00
	Spain	v	Russia	Tivoli-Neu Stadion, Innsbruck

2008-06-10 20:45
	Greece	v	Sweden	Wals Siezenheim Stadium, Salzburg

2008-06-14 18:00
	Sweden	v	Spain	Tivoli-Neu Stadion, Innsbruck

2008-06-14 20:45
	Greece	v	Russia	Wals Siezenheim Stadium, Salzburg

2008-06-18 20:45
	Greece	v	Spain	Wals Siezenheim Stadium, Salzburg

2008-06-18 20:45
	Russia	v	Sweden	Tivoli-Neu Stadion, Innsbruck

Knockout stage

The knockout stage is different from that of past tournaments. Teams in groups A and B will be separated from teams in groups C and D until the final.

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

Match ball

The match ball for the finals was unveiled at the draw ceremony. Produced by Adidas and named the Europass, it is a 14-panel ball in the same construction as the Teamgeist, but with slightly modified surface structure.

Slogan

The slogan for UEFA Euro 2008 was chosen on 24 January 2007: Expect Emotions.

The UEFA President Michel Platini stated "It describes in a nutshell what the UEFA Euro 2008 has to offer: all kinds of emotions — joy, disappointment, relief or high tension — right up to the final whistle."

Mascots

The two official mascots for UEFA Euro 2008, were named after a vote from the public of the two host nations, the options were:

• Zagi and Zigi
• Flitz and Bitz
• Trix and Flix

After receiving 36.3% of the vote, Trix and Flix were chosen. "I am sure the mascots and their names will become a vital part of the understanding of the whole event," said Christian Mutschler, who is the tournament director for Switzerland.

Broadcasting rights

Main article: UEFA Euro 2008 broadcasting rights

Many of the worlds national broadcasters have secured broadcasting rights of the tournament, as of September 24, 2007.See UEFA Euro 2008 Broadcasting rights for a complete list.

References

1. ^ Euro 2008
2. ^ Zurich - Letzigrund Stadion
3. ^ New trophy announced at UEFA site
4. ^ "Draw sets up heavyweight contests", uefa.com, 2007-12-02. Retrieved on 2007-12-02. 
5. ^ Format from UEFA Website
6. ^ UEFA Euro 2008 Information
7. ^ "adidas "EUROPASS" – the match ball with "goose bumps" for UEFA EURO 2008â„¢", Lucerne/Herzogenaurach:adidas, 2007-12-02. Retrieved on 2007-12-04. 
8. ^ Expect Emotions at Euro 2008
9. ^ Official Mascot Naming
10. ^ UEFA Euro 2008 Broadcasting Rights

News

1. Show Some Pride: Fight For Your Country - Bleacher Report - read more
2. Luxembourg celebrate centenary in style - uefa.com - read more
3. RIBERY THRIVING IN BAYERN SPOTLIGHT - Sportinglife.com - read more
4. Gov't dissolves national Euro-2012 preparation agency - UNIAN News Agency - read more
5. Germans' Euro 2008 windfall - Straits Times - read more
6. Low - England have improved - SkySports - read more
7. Euro 2008 brought in cash but little kick - Swissinfo - read more
8. FOREIGN INFLUX IS HANDICAP TO ENGLAND - Sportinglife.com - read more
9. France boosted by Vieira return - AFP - read more
10. Euro 2008 football fans boost beer sales - Swissinfo - read more