EURO 2024: What venues will England play at as Three Lions target tournament success

The travel arrangements are complete, the hotels are booked, the passports are up-to-date and the flight tickets are sorted - it’s almost time for England supporters to travel to Germany for their Euro 2024 Finals.

After easily navigating their way through a qualifying group containing Italy, Ukraine, North Macedonia and Malta by dropping just four points from a possible 24 and remaining unbeaten, Gareth Southgate’s men know what challenges they must overcome if they are to take one step closer towards a long-awaited men’s major tournament win.

There was some intrigue and what was probably best described as cautious optimism when the Three Lions were drawn alongside Serbia, Denmark and Slovenia for this summer’s tournament - and the three venues where the group stage ties will conjure up mixed emotions for England and their supporters.

Sunday 16th June: Serbia (8pm) - Gelsenkirchen

England will kick off their quest for success at Euro 2024 with a difficult test against a Serbia side with a number of familiar faces. The like of former Newcastle United striker Aleksandar Mitrovic, Juventus forward Dusan Vlahovic and Chelsea goalkeeper Dorde Petrovic will all be looking to throw a spanner in the works for Gareth Southgate’s side. England’s tournament will get underway at the Veltins Arena in Gelsenkirchen.

Based in the North West of Germany, the 49,471-capacity stadium will be known as ArenaAufSchalke during the tournament due to advertising regulations. The home of Bundesliga II club Schalke 04 will provide unhappy memories for England supporters as they return to what was the scene of a goodbye to their famous golden generations. Not for the first time, a Three Lions side containing the likes of David Beckham, Steven Gerrard and Gary Neville exited a major tournament after a penalty shoot-out defeat. Following a red card shown to Wayne Rooney, Sven Goran Eriksson’s side came out on the wrong end of the spot-kick lottery in a World Cup quarter-final meeting with Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal. Here’s hope there are some happier memories created this time around!

Thursday 20th June: Denmark (5pm) - Frankfurt

There will be another reunion of sorts when England’s group stage campaign continues with a meeting with Denmark in what will be a rerun of the Euro 2020 semi-final as Harry Kane’s extra-time goal sent the Three Lions into their first ever European Championship final. Of course, that major tournament win still evaded them as they suffered a heartbreaking penalty shoot-out defeat against Italy.

Anyway, back to Denmark! The game will take place at the 48,057-capacity Deutsche Bank Park in Frankfurt - although the stadium will be imaginatively renamed the Frankfurt Arena during the tournament. Once again, England did compete in Frankfurt at the World Cup in 2006 as an early own goal from Carlos Alberto Pavon ensured the Three Lions claimed a narrow win against Paraguay in their opening game of the tournament. The Frankfurt Arena is home to Bundesliga club Eintracht Frankfurt, who won the Europa League with a penalty shoot-out win against a Rangers containing former Newcastle defender James Tavernier in 2022.

Tuesday 25th June: Slovenia (8pm) - Cologne

Gareth Southgate’s side will bring down the curtain on their group stage campaign when they face Slovenia for only the second time in a major tournament. The two sides have not met since a group game during the 2010 World Cup Finals in South Africa when a goal from former Sunderland striker Jermain Defoe helped Fabio Capello’s men to what was a crucial win that sent them into an ultimately doomed first knockout round meeting with Germany.

This year’s meeting with Slovenia will come at FC Koln’s RheinEnergieStadion, which houses 46,922 supporters and will be temporarily rebranded as the Cologne Stadium throughout the tournament. This was the scene of England’s 2-2 draw with Sweden in the group stages of the 2006 World Cup Finals - or for Newcastle United supporters, the scene of a serious knee injury that meant then-Magpies striker and record signing Michael Owen missed the majority of the following season.