The tournament attracts as many audiences as it does because of the number of stars who line-up in their nation’s colours every four years in this elite competition. The likes of Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden), Eden Hazard (Belgium), Andres Iniesta (Spain) and Gianluigi Buffon (Italy) are among many other high-profile players who will go head-to-head against each other for the coveted trophy.

Germany and Spain are the most successful teams on the European stage, both teams winning the competition thrice. Spain go into the Euros as two-time defending champions and will be looking to make it three in a row with their star-studded squad which includes the likes of Andres Iniesta,Cesc Fabregas, and Gerard Pique among others.

World Champions Germany have one of the best squads in the competition with Joachim Loew having all bases covered. They, too, will start as favourites as they fight for their fourth-European crown.

Hosts France are serious contenders in the tournament with some talented players like Paul Pogba and Antoine Griezmann in their roster aiming for European glory. They had last won the Euros in 2000 via a David Trezeguet Golden Goal.

England, too, boast of a talented squad and will be hoping to live up to the expectations this time around. Roy Hodgson has been tweaking with the formation in the friendlies and it will be interesting to see how he accommodates Jamie Vardy, Harry Kane and Wayne Rooney in the starting 11.

Italy, Belgium and Portugal all go into the tournament as dark horses. Belgium have a top team on paper but are yet to deliver on the international stage. Italy manager Antonio Conte will be looking to create some magic with the Azzuris like he had done with Juventus in the past. Cristiano Ronaldo, on the other hand, will again carry Portugal solely on himself as they look to go as far as they can in the tournament.

This year’s Euros will also see five debutants in Wales, Iceland, Northern Ireland, Slovakia, and Albania, with Wales having the best chance to progress to the knockouts.

Tournament Format:

For the first time, 24 teams will take part in the European Championships. The 24 teams have been divided in 6 groups of 4 each. The top 2 sides from each group along with the 4 best third-placed teams will qualify for the knockout stages (Round of 16).

Venues:

Stade de Bordeaux(Bordeaux), Stade Bollaert-Delelis (Lens), Stade Pierre Mauroy (Lille), Stade de Lumieres (Lyon), Stade Velodrome (Marseille), Allianz Riviera (Nice), Parc des Princes (Paris), Stade de France (Saint-Denis), Stade Geoffroy-Guichard (Saint-Etienne), Stadium Municipal (Toulouse)

Fixture Summary:

Inaugural match of EURO 2016: France vs Romania on 11th June at 12:30 AM (IST).

Round of 16 : Between 25 June 2016 and 27 June 2016 (IST)

Quarter Finals: Between July 1 2016 and July 4 2016 (IST)

Semi-Finals: July 7 2016 and July 8 2016 (IST)

Final: July 11 2016 (IST)

Broadcast Details:

**All matches will be broadcasted live in India on SONY Six and SONY ESPN

Groups:

Group A: Albania, France, Romania, Switzerland

Group B: England, Russia, Slovakia, Wales

Group C: Germany, Northern Ireland, Poland, Ukraine

Group D: Croatia, Czech Republic, Spain, Turkey

Group E: Belgium, Italy, Republic of Ireland, Sweden

Group F: Austria, Hungary, Iceland, Portugal

Full Schedule of UEFA EURO 2016:

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