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UEFA Euro 2020 was the 16th staging of the UEFA European Championship, which ran from 11 June to 11 July 2021. It was originally scheduled for 12 June to 12 July of 2020, but UEFA postponed the tournament to one year due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe. The postponement allows for pressure to be reduced on the public services in affected countries, while also providing space in the calendar for domestic European leagues which had been suspended to complete their seasons.
Euro 2020 took place in 11 cities in 11 UEFA countries. It was originally to be 12, however, Dublin had dropped out from the list as it was unable to ensure spectators could attend; with all their group stage matches were reallocated to Saint Petersburg in Russia, and so does Bilbao in Spain due to higher COVID-19 infections there, in which Seville ultimately took its place as hosts, where it could guarantee fans at 30% of the stadium capacity.
Former UEFA President Michel Platini stated in 2012 that the tournament is being hosted in several nations as a “romantic” one-off event to mark the 60th “birthday”, or the anniversary of the UEFA European Championship. Having the largest capacity of any of the 11 stadiums entered for the competition, London’s Wembley Stadium has hosted the semi-finals and final for the second time, having done so before in Euro 1996 at the stadium’s old incarnation. The Stadio Olimpico in Rome was chosen to stage the tournament’s opening game, pitting between Turkey and hosts Italy.