With less than a month away from the commencement of the Euro 2016 tournament, it’s high time we take a look on some interesting facts:
1. This year shall be the 15th Euro tournament to be held.
2. France will be hosting for a record third time. France also won the Euro the last time they hosted in 1984.
3. Euro 2016 will be the biggest one to date, with 24 teams competing. There were only 16 teams competing in the previous Euro 2012.
4. Iceland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Slovakia and Albania will be making their Euro debut this year.
5. The first 3 teams of each group will be qualifying to the knockout stage, unlike past tournaments which only saw the winner and the runner-up qualifying.
6. There will be 10 stadiums hosting the tournament.
7. The winner of this year’s tournament will automatically qualify for the Confederations Cup 2017, which is to be held in Russia.
8. Both Spain and Germany are in the chance of winning it for a new record of four times. Germany will be heading into their 12th Euro tournament.
9. The last largest victory was that of the previous Euro 2012, where Spain demolished Italy with a 4-0 win.
10. The top scorers coming from the qualifying stages are Robert Lewandowski with 12 goals, followed by Zlaten Ibrahimovic (11) and Thomas Muller (9).
