Euro 2024 draw: Live updates, reaction from ceremony as UEFA finalises group stage schedule for finals

Joe Wright

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Euro 2024 draw: Live updates, reaction from ceremony as UEFA finalises group stage schedule for finals image

The draw for the group stage of Euro 2024 took place on Saturday, December 2 at a UEFA ceremony in Hamburg.

Next year's European Championship in Germany will pit the finest international sides in Europe against one another.

The host nation will kick off the tournament against Scotland, while tournament favourites France will have something of a tough time in their own group. England can be fairly pleased with their draw, as can Portugal.

We still have three places to be decided by the playoff, which take place next March. The teams involved now know which group they will be in should they manage to qualify for the finals.

The Sporting News will provide live updates from the draw ceremony, plus all the biggest reaction as the group stage for Euro 2024 is confirmed.

MORE: Watch UEFA Champions League in the United States on Paramount+

Euro 2024 draw: Final confirmed groups

The following 21 teams have qualified for Euro 2024:

  • Germany (hosts), Spain, Scotland, France, Netherlands, England, Italy, Turkiye, Albania, Czechia, Belgium, Austria, Hungary, Serbia, Denmark, Slovenia, Romania, Switzerland, Portugal, Slovakia, Croatia

There will be three other teams who join them in the group phase. These places will be taken by the winners of the playoffs in March, which will be contested by the following 12 teams:

  • Bosnia and Herzegovina, Finland, Georgia, Greece, Israel, Luxembourg, Poland, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Iceland, Estonia, Wales
Euro 2024 group stage draw
Sporting News

Euro 2024 groups

Group A

Team
Germany
Scotland
Hungary
Switzerland

Group B

Team
Spain
Croatia
Italy
Albania

 Group C

Team
Slovenia
Denmark
Serbia
England

 Group D

Team
Playoff Winner A
Netherlands
Austria
France

 Group E

Team
Belgium
Slovakia
Romania
Playoff Winner B

 Group F

Team
Turkey
Playoff Winner C
Portugal
Slovakia

Euro 2024 draw: Live updates, reaction as groups are confirmed

That's the conclusion of today's draw coverage. The teams involved now know what awaits them in June 2024, and the planning can begin. It should be quite a spectacle.

19.37 CET: Scotland goalkeeper Craig Gordon said at the event: "It's going to be a huge build-up —exactly what you want. Being a part of the opening ceremony is huge to be involved in. Germany have a history and experience of many, many tournament wins. The pressure will be on them at home and maybe that's something we can use to our advantage."

19.26 CET: France head coach Didier Deschamps told TF1 that his side have been given "a difficult draw". "It's a tough group even before knowing the identity of the playoff winner, which leaves uncertainty," said Deschamps, who missed the ceremony due to ill health. "Potentially, the Netherlands still have the best quality. Overall, they're still among the best European nations. They are so complete. But the Austrians are progressing — it's never easy to play them."

19.20 CET: Let's get some reaction to that draw. Former England striker Alan Shearer said of the Three Lions' chances: "I don't think England can complain with that group, I think it's pretty favourable when you look at some of the teams that have been drawn out against each other so I think Gareth [Southgate] will be extremely happy."

17.5 CET: The draw has now been concluded; the teams know what they must do to win the tournament. Italy, Spain and Netherlands will likely feel they have been handed a tough draw, but England might feel a little happier.

The first game of the competition will see host nation Germany face Scotland.

18.49 CET: And onto Pot 4: Switzerland, Group A; Italy, Group B; Serbia, C; playoff winner A will be in Group D; playoff winner B, E; and playoff winner C, F.

18.43 CET: Now it's over to Blaise Matuidi for the Pot 3 teams. Scotland go into Group A; Croatia, Group B; Slovenia, C; Netherlands, D; Slovakia, E; and Czechia, F.

18.39 CET: Wesley Sneijder draws the Pot 2 sides. Hungary are in Group A; Albania, B; Denmark, C; Austria, D; Romania, E; and Turkey, F.

18.32 CET: Here we go, then. Gianluigi Buffon draws the teams from Pot 1. Germany, as hosts, are in A; Spain are in B; England in C; France, Group D; Belgium, Group E; and Portugal, Group F.

18.25 CET: We're just running over the rules of the draw again. A reminder that three teams are yet to be decided: the winners of the playoff round next March. Groups will be assigned to the playoff paths, though, so teams will know which group they will go into before those playoffs actually take place.

18.20 CET: Former Premier League striker Chris Sutton has just told the BBC that England should be the slight favourites for the tournament. He also insists teams should not underestimate Germany... or Scotland.

Euro 2024 group-stage draw underway

Things are off and running in Hamburg!

5 mins to draw ceremony: Proceedings should be getting underway here imminently.

30 mins to draw ceremony: Key figures are now arriving at the draw in Hamburg, including England boss Gareth Southgate and Italy coach Luciano Spalletti. Former Portugal star Luis Figo is also in attendance and is expected to take part in the draw itself.

1 hour to draw ceremony

Okay, this is actually significant. We're just an hour away from the draw ceremony getting started. We still don't know exactly how UEFA's preamble will affect when the balls are being drawn, but either way, there isn't long to wait now.

2 hours to draw ceremony

Yep, it's news so significant it has its own special sub-heading: there are just two hours until the draw ceremony starts.

Hopefully, Julian Nagelsmann has made it by now. According to DPA, the Germany coach reportedly had to drive the roughly 800km from Munich to Hamburg after his flight was cancelled due to snow. He'll be hoping for a decent draw to make the trip worthwhile.

Build-up: UEFA has confirmed the prize money on offer to federations whose teams are competing at Euro 2024. The total prize pot stands at €331 million ($360.6 million), every participating nation will get €9.25m ($10.1M), and the tournament winners could earn as much as €32.25m ($35.1m) if they win all their games.

Build-up: Plenty of Europe's biggest stars will be competing in Germany next summer, but there are two notable exceptions: Erling Haaland and Martin Odegaard. How did Norway fail to qualify with those two in the team?

Build-up: Will next year be England's year? They lost the previous finals on penalties at Wembley but are among the favourites for the 2024 title after a strong qualifying performance. You can look back at their record at the Euros here.

Build-up: If you're curious about how today's draw will work, how the teams are organised, and which ones are not allowed to be drawn together, you can read our explainer right here.

Build-up: We've got about seven hours to go until today's draw, which takes place in Hamburg, Germany — one of the host cities for next year's finals.

Build-up: Here we go, then. Today, the biggest national teams in Europe will learn their fate as the groups for Euro 2024 are confirmed.

Euro 2024 draw for group stage live stream, TV channel

The group-stage draw can be streamed worldwide on UEFA.com but is also televised in various nations around the globe. Here's a list of broadcasters from an array of territories where the Euro 2024 group-stage draw can be watched live.

  TV channel Streaming
USA Fox Sports 1 Fox Sports app/website, ViX, UEFA.com
UK BBC, ITV ITVX, BBC iPlayer, UEFA.com
Australia — Optus, UEFA.com
Canada TSN TVA Sports, UEFA.com
India Sony Six UEFA.com

What time does Euro 2024 group stage draw begin?

The group stage draw from Hamburg, Germany is scheduled to begin on Saturday, December 2 at 6 p.m. local time.

Here's how that time translates across some of the major territories around the globe:

  Date Kickoff time
USA/Canada Sat, Dec. 2 12 p.m. ET
USA/Canada Sat, Dec. 2 9 a.m. PT
UK Sat, Dec. 2 5 p.m. GMT
Australia Sun, Dec. 3 4 a.m. AEDT
India Sat, Dec. 2 10:30 p.m. IST

How Euro 2024 draw works

The first stage for the final tournament of Euro 2024 will be constructed with six groups of four teams each, consisting of 24 total nations.

For the draw, the 24 teams will be divided into four pots. Additionally, the 21 qualifiers entering from the group stage will be placed in a full combined table ranking each nation based on their group stage results.

Pot one consists of hosts Germany plus the five highest-ranked group winners from qualifying. Pot 2 features the five lowest-ranked group winners plus the highest-ranked group runner-up. Pot 3 boasts group runners-up ranked second through seventh. Lastly, Pot 4 will consist of the lowest three ranked group runners-up.

Finally, the last three teams qualifying via the playoff will be entered into Pot 4, as those nations will not be known at the time of the draw.

Germany automatically falls into Group A as the hosts. From there, a ball will be drawn from Pot 1 and placed in the next available group in alphabetical order. This will be concluded until all Pot 1 teams are exhausted, and then each subsequent pot will go numerically until each one is empty.

While the World Cup has varying restrictions that determine who can and cannot be drawn into groups together based on confederation, there are no restrictions for which teams can be drawn into which groups for the European Championship, with a few small exceptions. Determined by the UEFA executive committee, the following nations cannot be drawn into the same group due to political conflict:

  • Bosnia-Herzegovina / Kosovo
  • Serbia / Kosovo
  • Ukraine / Belarus
  • Azerbaijan / Armenia
  • Spain / Gibraltar

Euro 2024 betting odds & lines

The 2024 European Championships begin June 14, 2024 and will last exactly one month, with the final in Berlin slated for July 14.

England are the betting favourites, with France right behind and hosts Germany third.

  England France Germany Portugal Spain Italy Belgium Netherlands
DraftKings
(USA)		 +380 +400 +650 +750 +800 +1600 +1600 +1600

Joe Wright

Joe Wright Photo

Joe is a Senior Editor at Sporting News. He was previously a sub editor and writer for Goal.com before spending six years as part of the Stats Perform editorial news service, covering major global sports including football, tennis, boxing, NBA, rugby union and athletics. Joe has reported live on some of the biggest games in football, including two UEFA Champions League finals, Euro 2016, the Confederations Cup 2017 and the 2018 World Cup final at the end of a month in Russia.