Wembley to host 4 additional Euro 2020 tilts, Rome gets opener
England's national football stadium will now be home to seven matches at Euro 2020 after having been allocated the four Brussels was initially scheduled to host.
To celebrate the 60th anniversary of the quadrennial continental competition, UEFA introduced a one-off event with the tournament contested across 13 cities in 13 European nations. That number is now down to 12 as Brussels' bid was rejected in lieu of construction delays with the 50,000-seater Eurostadium.
UEFA announced the news Thursday, adding that the four matches scheduled to be played in the Belgian capital will now take place at Wembley in addition to the semi-finals and final planned for the London ground. Of the four extra fixtures, three will be group-stage games and one a last-16 tie.
Cardiff and Stockholm had also been in contention to host the additional fixtures, though on Wednesday, UEFA boss Aleksander Ceferin said that the decision by the governing body's executive committee had voted unanimously in support of London.
In addition to the venue change, UEFA revealed that the Stadio Olimpico in Rome will host the opening match of the tournament, and that the host cities have been paired for the group stages.
- Group A: Rome & Baku
- Group B: Saint Petersburg & Copenhagen
- Group C: Amsterdam & Bucharest
- Group D: London & Glasgow
- Group E: Bilbao & Dublin
- Group F: Munich & Budapest
The 2020 tournament is the first European Championship to be hosted across several countries with 24 nations looking to unseat holder and first-time winner Portugal.