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2020 European Football Championship

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The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was the sixteenth European Championships and was be held in 11 cities across 11 different countries between 11 June and 11 July 2021.

The tournament was postponed from its original dates in 2020 due to the worldwide Covid-19 pandemic.

• 1. Host selection
• 2. Qualifying results
• 3. Euro 2020 Finals results
• 4. Wales and the 2020 European Championship
• i. Qualification
• ii. Finals
• 5. Wales players used during qualifying
• 6. Wales players used during the tournament

Host selection

Despite initial interest from Turkey, a joint bid from Scotland, the Republic of Ireland and Wales and a proposal from Georgia and Azerbaijan, UEFA announced on 6 December 2012 that it had made the unprecedented decision to host the 2020 UEFA European Football Championship in multiple cities across Europe to mark the 60th anniversary of the tournament.

The 13 original venues were selected and announced by UEFA on 19 September 2014, however the UEFA Executive Committee removed Brussels as a host city on 7 December 2017 due to delays with the building of Eurostadium.

On 23 April 2021, UEFA announced that due to a lack of guarantees regarding spectators caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, Aviva Stadium in Dublin was removed as a tournament host. Similarly, UEFA reassigned the four matches in Spain elsewhere in the country, with La Cartuja in Seville replacing San Mamés in Bilbao.

Qualifying

All 55 UEFA members entered the qualification tournament for the 2020 UEFA European Football Championship and for the first time since 1976, no country qualified automatically as hosts.

Kosovo participated in the European Championship qualifiers for the first time having participated in the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

Wales were seeded in the second pot and were drawn into Group E alongside Croatia, Slovakia, Hungary and Azerbaijan.

Uefa qualifying group E

no.	date	score	scorers (wales)	venue
	21/03/2019	Croatia 2-1 Azerbaijan		Stadion Maksimir, Zagreb	ECQ
	21/03/2019	Slovakia 2-0 Hungary		Anton Malatinský Stadium, Trnava	ECQ
653	24/03/2019	Wales 1-0 Slovakia	James	Cardiff City Stadium, Cardiff	ECQ
	24/03/2019	Hungary 2-1 Croatia		Groupama Arena, Budapest	ECQ
654	08/06/2019	Croatia 2-1 Wales	Brooks	Stadion Gradski Vrt, Osijek	ECQ
	08/06/2019	Azerbaijan 1-3 Hungary		Bakcell Arena, Baku	ECQ
	11/06/2019	Azerbaijan 1-5 Slovakia		Bakcell Arena, Baku	ECQ
655	11/06/2019	Hungary 1-0 Wales		Groupama Arena, Budapest	ECQ
	06/09/2019	Slovakia 0-4 Croatia		Anton Malatinský Stadium, Trnava	ECQ
656	06/09/2019	Wales 2-1 Azerbaijan	og, Bale	Cardiff City Stadium, Cardiff	ECQ
	09/09/2019	Azerbaijan 1-1 Croatia		Olympic Stadium, Baku	ECQ
	09/09/2019	Hungary 1-2 Slovakia		Groupama Arena, Budapest	ECQ
	10/10/2019	Croatia 3-0 Hungary		Stadion Poljud, Split	ECQ
658	10/10/2019	Slovakia 1-1 Wales	Moore	Anton Malatinský Stadium, Trnava	ECQ
	13/10/2019	Hungary 1-0 Azerbaijan		Groupama Arena, Budapest	ECQ
659	13/10/2019	Wales 1-1 Croatia	Bale	Cardiff City Stadium, Cardiff	ECQ
660	16/11/2019	Azerbaijan 0-2 Wales	Moore, Wilson	Olympic Stadium, Baku	ECQ
	16/11/2019	Croatia 3-1 Slovakia		Stadion Rujevica, Rijeka	ECQ
	19/11/2019	Slovakia 2-0 Azerbaijan		Anton Malatinský Stadium, Trnava	ECQ
661	19/11/2019	Wales 2-0 Hungary	Ramsey (2)	Cardiff City Stadium, Cardiff	ECQ

Group standings

		P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
1.	Croatia	8	5	2	1	17	7	17
2.	Wales	8	4	2	2	10	6	14
3.	Slovakia	8	4	1	3	13	11	13
4.	Hungary	8	4	0	4	8	11	12
5.	Azerbaijan	8	0	1	7	5	18	1

2020 UEFA European Championships

The draw for the final tournament was held on 30 November 2019 in Bucharest, Romania. The 24 teams were drawn into six groups of four. The identity of the four play-off teams were not known at the time of the draw.

Wales were seeded in the fourth pot and were drawn into Group A alongside Italy, Switzerland and Turkey playing two matches in the Olympic Stadium, Baku and one in Stadio Olimpico, Rome.

Group A

no.	date	score	scorers (wales)	venue
	11/06/2021	Turkey 0-3 Italy		Stadio Olimpico, Rome	EC
675	12/06/2021	Wales 1-1 Switzerland	Moore	Olympic Stadium, Baku	EC
676	16/06/2021	Turkey 0-2 Wales	Ramsey, C Roberts	Olympic Stadium, Baku	EC
	16/06/2021	Italy 3-0 Switzerland		Stadio Olimpico, Rome	EC
677	20/06/2021	Italy 1-0 Wales		Stadio Olimpico, Rome	EC
	20/06/2021	Switzerland 3-1 Turkey		Olympic Stadium, Baku	EC

Group standings

		P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
1.	Italy	3	3	0	0	7	0	9
2.	Wales	3	1	1	1	3	2	4
3.	Switzerland	3	1	1	1	4	5	4
4.	Turkey	3	0	0	3	1	8	0

Knockout stages

no.	date	score	scorers (wales)	venue
Last 16
678	26/06/2021	Wales 0-4 Denmark		Johan Cruijff Arena, Amsterdam	EC

Wales and the 2020 European Championship

Qualification

Wales were seeded in the second pot and were drawn into Group E alongside Croatia, Slovakia, Hungary and Azerbaijan.

The campaign got off to the perfect start as Dan James scored the only goal of the game on his competitive debut to ensure Wales won the opening game of a qualifying campaign for the third tournamnet in a row.

However, two away defeats in a double header against Croatia and Hungary left Wales in a precarious position, lying fourth in the group.

Having laboured to a 2-1 win over Azerbaijan, a 1-1 draw away in Slovakia kept Wales' hopes of qualification alive thanks in no small part to Croatia thumping Hungary 3-0 on the same evening.

A 1-1 draw at home to group leaders Croatia saw Wales' destiny no longer in their own hands relying on Slovakia to drop points in their remaining two fixtures, while also needing to claim six points from their final two games in Azerbaijan and at home to Hungary.

A 2-0 win in Azerbaijan coupled with a victory for Croatia over Slovakia set up a winner takes all clash between Wales and Hungary in the final match at the Cardiff City Stadium to secure second spot in the group and qualification for the 2020 UEFA European Football Championship.

Ryan Giggs was boosted by the return of Aaron Ramsey, playing the first minutes of the qualifying campaign as a second half substitute in the match in Baku and the Juventus midfielder netted twice in the final game against Hungary to ensure Wales' qualification.

Players used during qualifying

Wales used 26 players during the campaign with Wayne Hennessey the only player to have played every minute of every game. Gareth Bale, Ben Davies, Daniel James and Harry Wilson played some part of every game.

Player	SVK	CRO	HUN	AZE	SVK	CRO	AZE	HUN
Joe Allen	90	90	90	90	90	90		90
Ethan Ampadu		23	54	75	58	50	88	40
Gareth Bale	90	90	90	90	90	90	60	88
David Brooks	60	25	73
Ben Davies	90	90	90	10	90	90	90	90
Chris Gunter			90
Wayne Hennessey	90	90	90	90	90	90	90	90
Daniel James	72	79	90	90	90	90	82	90
James Lawrence	90	90	90
Tom Lawrence			79
Tom Lockyer					90	90	90	90
Rabbi Matondo		11					8
Chris Mepham	90	90		90			90	90
Kieffer Moore					90	86	90	90
Joe Morrell					32	40	90	50
Aaron Ramsey							30	90
Connor Roberts	90	90		90	90	90	90	90
Tyler Roberts	30					4
Joe Rodon				90	90	90
Matt Smith	90	65	36
Neil Taylor				80
Will Vaulks	3	66					2
Sam Vokes			11	15
Ashley Williams	18		90
Jonathan Williams				27	66	68
Harry Wilson	87	90	17	63	23	22	90	2

Wales and the 2020 European Championship

UEFA Euro 2020 Finals

The draw for the final tournament was held on 30 November 2019 in Bucharest, Romania. The 24 teams were drawn into six groups of four. The identity of the four play-off teams were not known at the time of the draw.

Wales were seeded in the fourth pot and were drawn into Group A alongside Italy, Switzerland and Turkey playing two matches in the Olympic Stadium, Baku and one in Stadio Olimpico, Rome.

Rob Page was announced as Wales' manager for the 2020 UEFA European Championships in April 2020 after previous manager, Ryan Giggs, was charged with assaulting two women.

Eight players in Wales' 26-man squad were also members of Wales' squad at the 2016 UEFA European Championships; Joe Allen, Gareth Bale, Ben Davies, Chris Gunter, Wayne Hennessey, Aaron Ramsey, Danny Ward and Jonathan Williams.

Seven players featured during the 2020 UEFA European Championship qualifying campaign did not make the squad for the final tournament; James Lawrence, Tom Lawrence, Rabbi Matondo, Neil Taylor, Will Vaulks, Sam Vokes and Ashley Williams

James Lawrence was included in the original 26-man squad announced on 30 May, however he was replaced by Tom Lockyer on 31 May after suffering an injury in training.

The opening match of Euro 2020 was also the opening match of Group A. Italy thumped Turkey 3-0 in Rome before Wales and Switzerland drew 1-1 in Baku; a Kiefer Moore header cancelling out Breel Embolo's opener for the Swiss.

Robert Page's men also had the VAR referee to thank five minutes from time for chalking off Mario Gravanovic's goal, the substitute having strayed into an offside position before firing past Danny Ward.

Italy continued their fine start to the tournament with a 3-0 win over the Swiss in their second game in the group before Wales all but secured their place in the last 16 with an impressive 2-0 win over Turkey despite Gareth Bale missing a penalty.

Despite a red card for Ethan Ampadu in Rome, 10-man Wales held Italy to just one goal meaning second place in the group was secured on goal difference from Switzerland.

Wales were well beaten in the round of 16 with Denmark winning 4-0 in the Johan Cruyff Arena, Amsterdam and to rub salt into the wounds, Harry Wilson became the 21st Welsh player to be sent off during an international match in the closing minutes of the match.

Players used during the finals

Wales used 18 players during the tournament. Danny Ward played at the 2020 Uefa European Championships despite not playing a single minute of the qualifying campaign and was one of two players to have played every minute of Wales' matches, the other being Joe Rodon .

Ethan Ampadu became the 20th Welsh player to be sent off during an international match during the 0-1 defeat to Italy in Rome and Harry Wilson became the 21st Welsh player to be sent off during an international match during the 0-4 defeat to Denmark in Amsterdam.

Player	SUI	TUR	ITA	DEN
Joe Allen	90	73	85	90
Ethan Ampadu	1	17	55
Gareth Bale	90	90	85	90
David Brooks	15		5	10
Ben Davies	90	90	5	90
Chris Gunter			90
Dan James	75	89	74	80
Dylan Levitt			5
Chris Mepham	90	90		90
Kieffer Moore	90	90	30	78
Joe Morrell	90	90	60	60
Aaron Ramsey	89	85	90	90
Connor Roberts	90	90	90	40
Tyler Roberts				12
Joe Rodon	90	90	90	90
Danny Ward	90	90	90	90
Neco Williams		1	85	50
Harry Wilson		5	16	30