Euro 2024 begins tonight as a month-long festival of football is officially started with a stylish opening ceremony before hosts Germany take on Scotland in the tournament curtain-raiser in Group A.
The opening ceremony will include a tribute to the late Franz Beckenbauer, the Germany and Bayern Munich icon who sadly passed away in January at the age of 78.
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France are favourites for Euro 2024 this summer, with England also heavily tipped, and Germany, Portugal, Spain and holders Italy all in contention.
Germany will see almost three million fans attend games and 12 million people in total descend upon the country across the next four weeks.
Here’s the latest on the opening ceremony...
When is the opening match?
The tournament kicks off with the opening game, which will see hosts Germany taking on Scotland at 8pm BST tonight on Friday June 14, 2024. The Allianz Arena in Munich will host the opening ceremony and the first match.
Euro 2024 opening ceremony start time
Not usually on the scale of an Olympic Games opening ceremony, a football tournament typically raises its curtains with a 20-30 minute performance, which can include a musical guest, before the opening game's kick-off.
Euro 2020 saw Andrea Bocelli wow a packed Stadio Olimpico in Rome, along with a performance by Martin Garrix, Bono and The Edge.
UEFA have confirmed that German football legend Beckenbauer will be honoured during the ceremony - set to start at around 7:30pm BST - ahead of the opening game.
Germany’s two living Euros-winning captains, Bernard Dietz and Jurgen Klinsmann, will be joined by Beckenbauer’s wife Heidi and the competition trophy on the pitch before the tournament kicks off.
On Thursday, there was an 'Opening Concert' in Stuttgart, at the Schlossplatz, running from 4pm local time until 10.30pm and featuring a number of local musical guests.
Is there a closing ceremony?
This has been confirmed. The Euro 2024 song 'Fire' will be performed ahead of the final on July 14 at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin.
Meduza, OneRepublic and Leony are the artists behind the song and will be in the German capital to perform.
