With the Premier League reaching a climactic end, all eyes are now going to be on the international stage as the Euro 2020 gets underway on 11 June 2021. England, Scotland and Wales have all qualified for the tournament. Originally scheduled to take place last year, the tournament was postponed because of the pandemic. For those of you wondering, it retains the name “UEFA Euro 2020”, despite taking place this year.
UK viewers will be pleased to know that every game of Euro 2020 is being aired on free-to-watch channels BBC and ITV and their respective streaming services, BBC iPlayer and ITV Hub. If you’re travelling abroad during the month-long tournament, you can access both streaming services using a good VPN service, like ExpressVPN.
Unlike previous Euro tournaments that were hosted by a specific country, Euro 2020 will be hosted by 11 different nations. This is a one-off gesture to celebrate the 60th birthday of the European Championship competition. Each venue will have a limited number of fans in attendance. Wembley Stadium in London will host the Euro 2020 semi-finals and finals.
Portugal will enter the tournament as defending champions after winning Euro 2016 defeating home team, France, in a nail-biting final that went into extra time. The French team then went on to win the 2018 FIFA World Cup two years later, defeating Croatia in the Final.
24 teams will participate in this year’s competition, with teams divided into six groups each. England are in Group E, along with Croatia, neighbours Scotland, and Czech Republic. England open their Euro 2020 campaign with arguably their toughest game, against Croatia. The team will be hoping to seek revenge on the side that knocked them out of the 2018 World Cup. Meanwhile, Wales are in Group A, along with Turkey, Italy and Switzerland.
Group F is known as the Group of Death for good reason because it features Portugal, France, Germany and Hungary. Of these, Portugal are the reigning Euro Champions, France are the Euro 2016 Finalists and reigning World Cup Champions, and Germany won the 2014 World Cup. All three teams also feature huge global football superstars in the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappe, Paul Pogba, Thomas Muller and Manuel Neuer.
After its continued successful implementation in club football across the world in the last few years, VAR will make its debut for the Euro 2020. Apart from this, the tournament also Covid-19 specific rules and protocols in place that every team must adhere to.
Euro 2020: Groups
England squad for Euro 2020
England announced a 33-man provisional squad for Euro 2020, which will be narrowed down to the final 26 on 1 June 2021.
Forwards: Harry Kane, Marcus Rashford, Raheem Sterling, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, Mason Greenwood, Ollie Watkins , Jadon Sancho, Bukayo Saka
Midfielders: Jordan Henderson, Mason Mount, Jesse Lingard, Declan Rice, Jude Bellingham, Kalvin Phillips, James Ward-Prowse
Defenders: Harry Maguire, John Stones, Luke Shaw, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Kyle Walker, Tyrone Mings, Reece James, Conor Coady, Ben Chilwell, Ben Godfrey, Kieran Trippier, Ben White
Goalkeepers: Jordan Pickford, Dean Henderson, Sam Johnstone, Aaron Ramsdale
When are England playing their Euro 2020 games?
- Sunday, 13 June: England vs Croatia at 3pm
- Friday, 18 June: England vs Scotland at 9pm
- Tuesday, 22 June: England vs Czech Republic at 9pm
England have the advantage of playing all three group-stage games at their home venue at Wembley Stadium in London. Scotland will play two of their fixtures at home (in Hampden Park), with the England fixture (on Friday, 18 June at 8pm) at Wembley. Wales will play two of their first two games in Baku and the final game against Italy in Rome.
England have never won the Euros, but they did reach the semi-finals in 1996, the last time the tournament was held on home soil. Given the recent form that members of the current team have been in for their club sides – coupled with the fact that they reached the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup – there will be a burden of expectation for Gareth Southgate, Harry Kane and the team to deliver its first major football trophy in years.
Stadiums hosting the Euro 2020 tournament
- Wembley Stadium in London
- Hampden Park in Glasgow
- Stadio Olimpico in Rome
- Allianz Arena in Munich
- John Cryuff Arena in Amsterdam
- Parken Stadium in Copenhagen
- Puskas Arena in Budapest
- Krestovsky Stadium in Saint Petersburg
- Olympic Stadium in Baku
- La Cartuja in Seville
- Arena Nationala in Bucharest
Euro 2020 Matchday 1 Fixtures
Friday, 11 June 2021
- Turkey vs Italy at 8pm on BBC
Saturday, 12 June 2021
- Wales vs Switzerland at 2pm on BBC
- Denmark vs Switzerland at 5pm on BBC
- Belgium vs Russia at 8pm on ITV
Sunday, 13 June 2021
- England vs Croatia at 2pm on BBC
- Austria vs North Macedonia at 5pm on ITV
- Netherlands vs Ukraine at 8pm on ITV
Monday, 14 June 2021
- Scotland vs Czech Republic at 2pm on BBC
- Poland vs Slovakia at 5pm on ITV
- Spain vs Sweden at 8pm on BBC
Tuesday, 15 June 2021
- Hungary vs Portugal at 5pm on ITV
- France vs Germany at 8pm on ITV
More fixtures to follow in due course.
How to watch Euro 2020 for free in the UK: BBC and ITV
BBC and ITV will both host live coverage of the Euro 2020 on their free-to-air channels in the UK. You can also stream content via their streaming services and apps, BBC iPlayer and ITV Hub. Of course, you need to ensure that you have a valid TV license but otherwise, you can stream every Euro 2020 game for free.
As you can see from the table above, BBC is showing the huge clash between England and Scotland on 18 June and two of Wales’ group games. Meanwhile, ITV will broadcast England and Scotland two other remaining fixtures.
This will come as a relief to millions of people who are otherwise used to paying a pretty penny to watch their favourite teams compete in the Premier League, Champions League and other football tournaments that are often broadcast on pay-to-watch services like Sky Sports and BT Sport.
BBC will also have live coverage of every game on BBC Radio Five Live that can listen to here, or by using a good VPN service if you’re abroad.
How to watch Euro 2020 in the US: ESPN+
Meanwhile, US viewers will be able to watch every Euro 2020 game live on ESPN+. Subscription to this Disney-owned service costs $5.99/mnth or $59.99/year, but you can also bundle it with Disney+ and Hulu for $12.99/mnth. Apart from Euro 2020, ESPN+ gives you exclusive access to American sports like the NHL, MLB and even pay-per-view events like UFC fights.
How to watch Euro 2020 anywhere in the world: use a good VPN service
Most European countries are now allowing some form of travel, meaning there’s a high chance that you may be travelling to another country during the summer, but will yet want to watch your national team in action in the Euro 2020. Thankfully, this is easy to do provided you use a good VPN service.
A VPN basically masks your device’s location to trick it into thinking that it’s located anywhere in the world that you want. It does this by changing your device’s IP address. This means that you can access BBC iPlayer, ITV Hub and ESPN+ from anywhere in the world.
We recommend everyone use a good VPN service, especially when travelling because this protects your devices from shoddy Wi-Fi networks that can otherwise expose your personal information to hackers. While there are tons of free VPN services, we have selected the very best ones that will give you access to lag-free streams of Euro 2020 regardless of where in the world you’re browsing from.
READ NEXT: Best VPN service
ExpressVPN: Among all the VPNs we’ve tested, ExpressVPN is the fastest and most secure. It comes with 24/7 customer support who will willingly help to connect to any service – local or abroad – to access content that you need to. Its entire network has been audited to prove that your personal data is not identifiable or stored on their servers. You can use the service on five devices at the same time and all plans come with a 30-day no-questions-asked moneyback guarantee.
NordVPN: Another one of our favourites is NordVPN. The service shares many of the award-winning features as ExpressVPN, including 24/7 customer, simultaneous usage on multiple devices and a wide range of servers spread all across the globe to access whatever content you choose. You can use it on six devices at the same time, making it a great option for your family or a group of friends.