One year to go to UEFA EURO 2024

Today marks one year to go to the start of UEFA EURO 2024 in Germany, which will kick-off with the opening match at the Football Arena in Munich on 14 June and will conclude with the final at the Olympiastadion in Berlin on 14 July 2024.

The Henri Delaunay trophy – which will be presented to the winners after next summer’s final – made an appearance today at the German Chancellery in Berlin. There, the host country’s chancellor Olaf Scholz and Federal Minister of the Interior and Community, Nancy Faeser, welcomed a UEFA EURO 2024 GmbH delegation led by tournament director Philipp Lahm and tournament ambassador Celia Šašić as well as a delegation from the German Football Association (DFB) headed by President Bernd Neuendorf and General Secretary Heike Ullrich.

Germany chancellor Olaf Scholz said: “It’s one year to go until the European Championship starts in Germany, a home game for Europe. It’s a very important event that a lot of people are already looking forward to. We can rely on structures that already exist. This is something special as nothing has to be built from scratch, the stadiums are already there, and public transport has the capacity to cope with such a huge influx of spectators. I’m happy that we are starting all of this together today!

UEFA EURO 2024 tournament director Philipp Lahm said: “We are very happy to be able to get together one year before the start of UEFA EURO 2024. The world will come to us, to Germany, to the heart of Europe. I think this is an opportunity to show, who we are: open to the world, diverse and tolerant. Today is also a very special day for us as the organisers of UEFA EURO 2024 since the volunteer platform will be launched. The volunteers are the faces of this tournament, but also ambassadors for Germany. We would be very pleased to have as many candidates as possible to be part of this amazing European sporting event.”

DFB President Bernd Neuendorf said: “We expect to experience a European festival of football and we want to present our country and for the association to come across as friendly, cosmopolitan and in a welcoming way. This tournament should also have a wider impact and reach the 25,000 football clubs we have here in Germany. The excitement has to spill over to them and into amateur football as well. We hope that through this tournament, a lot of children and teenagers will decide to join the clubs. That is what we hope for - a pull effect for our sport.”

Several events to mark the occasion are being held in popular locations across the ten host cities – Berlin, Dortmund, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Gelsenkirchen, Hamburg, Köln, Leipzig, München, Stuttgart. Official countdown clocks are being installed, and people can join in penalty shoot-outs for a chance to win tickets to attend a match in their host city.

The volunteer programme will be officially launched at an evening event tonight (live on DFB TV at 20:00 CEST) at the German Football Museum in Dortmund. Lahm, Šašić and former Borussia Dortmund and Germany goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller, the host city ambassador, will discuss the invaluable importance of volunteers to the tournament.

People interested in becoming a volunteer for the tournament will be able to apply via the official channels. More than 19,000 people have already declared their interest and ultimately over 16,000 volunteers will be joining the tournament operations and will be at the heart of an unforgettable experience.

Ticket sales for the general public will be launched on 3 October exclusively via UEFA.com. The final draw will take place on 2 December 2023 at the iconic Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg.