April 30 – The Stade de France in Paris will host both the opening game and the final of Euro 2016 after UEFA confirmed the match schedule. Host nation France will get the competition under way on June 10, with the climax to the tournament – the first Euros to comprise 24 instead of 16 teams – a month later.
The host nation will also play in the hotbeds of Marseille and Lille. Each of the ten host cities will stage a minimum of four matches: three group contests and a knockout tie, with bigger capacity stadiums staging games from the quarter-finals onwards.
The schedule has been designed so that teams advancing from the same group will only be able to face each other again if they reach the final.
There will be three standard kick-off times – 15.00, 18.00 and 21.00 – with the final matches in each group to be played simultaneously. All teams will play their group matches in three different locations, thus enabling fans to see different countries, with venues ‘paired up’ so that there will be no matches in the same region on the same day.
The schedule was announced following a meeting of the UEFA EURO 2016 steering group in Paris, and UEFA President Michel Platini said: “I believe the calendar is great for fans since they will get the chance to see several teams and matches in or around their respective regions. Fans of a particular team are also now encouraged to travel around France to follow their team and discover the beauty the country has to offer.
“As far as the teams are concerned, I think it is great they can rotate between venues. It means nobody will have a so-called ‘home advantage’ by playing several times in the same stadium.”
The Stade de France held the 1998 World Cup final and the 2006 UEFA Champions League final. The semi-finals will be staged at the redeveloped Stade Vélodrome in Marseille and the brand new Stade de Lyon.
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