Euro 2012: About The Event
Contested every four years, the UEFA European Championship was first held as the UEFA European Nations Cup in 1960 before changing to its current name in 1968. The Euro 2012 is the 14th edition of the tournament and will be held in Poland and Ukraine from June 8 to July 1, 2012. It is the third time that the tournament is being jointly hosted by two countries (after Belgium/Netherlands in 2000 and Austria/Switzerland in 2008).
Contested every four years, the UEFA European Championship was first held as the UEFA European Nations Cup in 1960 before changing to its current name in 1968. The Euro 2012 is the 14th edition of the tournament and will be held in Poland and Ukraine from June 8 to July 1, 2012. It is the third time that the tournament is being jointly hosted by two countries (after Belgium/Netherlands in 2000 and Austria/Switzerland in 2008).
16 teams will compete in a total of 31 matches in the quest to be crowned European champions. The competition format will change for the next edition as Euro 2012 will be the last 16-team finals. The tournament will expand to 24 teams in 2016.
The Euro 2012 matches will be played in eight stadiums, four in Poland - Gdansk, Poznan, Warsaw, Wroclaw - and four in Ukraine - Donetsk, Lviv, Kharkiv and Kiev.
The opening match will be held in Warsaw on June 8 and the final on July 1 in Kiev.
The Euro 2008 champions, Spain, return to defend their title. If they win Euro 2012, they will be the first European national team ever to win three major tiles in a row: Euro 2008, 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012.