For the first time, the European Championship final tournament will be contested by 24 teams, having been expanded from the 16-team format that had been used since 1996.[3] Under this new format, the finalists will contest a group stage consisting of six groups of four teams, followed by a knockout stage including three rounds and the final. As hosts, France have automatically qualified for the final tournament, while the other 53 national teams will compete in a qualifying competition, running from September 2014 to November 2015, to secure the remaining 23 places. Among these teams are back-to-back defending champions Spain, and for the first time since their affiliation with UEFA, Gibraltar.
The winners will earn the right to participate in the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup hosted by Russia. If Germany or Russia win, however, the runner-up will qualify as Germany have already qualified due to winning the 2014 FIFA World Cup, and Russia have qualified as hosts. If both Germany and Russia reach the final, the qualifier will be drawn from the losing semi-finalists.
Initially, twelve stadia were presented for the French bid, chosen on 28 May 2010. These venues were to be whittled down to nine by the end of May 2011, but it was suggested in June 2011 that eleven venues might be used.[6] The French Football Federation had to choose which nine stadia would actually be used. The choice for the first seven was undisputed – France's national stadium, the Stade de France, four newly constructed stadia in Lille, Lyon, Nice and Bordeaux, and those of the biggest cities, Paris and Marseille. The last two remaining places, after Strasbourg opted out for financial reasons following relegation,[7] were chosen to be Lens and Nancy in the first round of voting, instead of Saint-Étienne and Toulouse, chosen as reserve stadia. In June 2011, the number of host venues was increased to eleven because of the new tournament format which sees 24 teams taking part, instead of just 16.[8][9] The decision means that the reserve cities of Toulouse and St-Étienne joined the list of hosts. However, in December 2011, Nancy announced its withdrawal from the tournament, after the stadium's renovation fell through,[10] so ten host cities will now be used. The Stade de la Beaujoire in Nantes and the Stade de la Mosson in Montpellier, venues which had been used for the 1998 World Cup, were also not chosen. The final list of the ten venues was confirmed by the UEFA Executive Committee on 25 January 2013.[11]