Euro 2016 (June 10-July 10/France)
15th edition of the quadrennial battle for glory in Europe among 24 countries will be hosted by France from June 10 – July 10, 2016. The month long extravaganza will showcase 51 matches at ten different venues while France is preparing to receive some 2.5 million fans for the “Le Rendez-Vous” and millions more will be glued to their screens. Under the auspices leadership of UEFA, Euro has been the pinnacle event for European supremacy of the football world since 1960 when the first Euro was held also in France. Germany and Spain have won the title most number of times, three times each followed by two time champion, France. Spain is the defending champion after they won it in 2012 by beating Italy in the final. The top players of Europe i.e. Christiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and Zlatan Ibrahomovich will battle out each other representing their respective countries for the championship though players like Andre Pirlo, Mario Balotelli, Karim Benzema and Frank Ribery might miss out. Along with the host nation France; England, Spain and Germany are the top contender for the championship this year. Also no one can rule out the possibility of any dark horse like Belgium, Sweden or Portugal coming ahead from behind to clinch the glory. One major team which failed to qualify this year is Netherland. This year the format has been expanded from 16 countries to 24 countries more likely benefitting teams like Northern Ireland, Wales, Iceland and Albania. The tournament will start off with the host nation France playing against Romania in State De France on 11 June, 1 am BST and the final will be held in the same place after a month on 11 July, 1 am BST.
