COPY LINK

For members

EURO 2024

EXPLAINED: How to get tickets for Euro 2024 in Germany

Germany will host UEFA European Championships football tournament next summer. Here's how you can get hold of tickets.

Published: 2 October 2023 16:56 CEST
Updated: 10 October 2023 08:28 CEST

A smartphone displays the app and logo for the UEFA Euros 2024 in Germany. Photo: picture alliance/dpa/Zuma Press | Aleksandr Gusev

On June 14th next year, Germany’s national football team will kick off the European Championships at home at the opening match in Munich. One month later, on July 14th, Berlin will host the final.

For fans hoping to soak up the atmosphere at one of the matches in person, it’s all about the luck of the draw, since tickets will be allocated through a lottery system.

The first application phase for the lottery starts this Tuesday October 3rd at 2pm and will run until October 26th. These are the key rules and dates that fans should know about.

How do I enter the raffle for tickets?

Starting this month, tickets will be sold exclusively via the official European Championship website.

The only restriction is that interested parties can only buy tickets for one match per day and only for up to four people per match. As with last year’s World Cup in Qatar, tickets will only be available digitally rather than in paper form.

If there are more applications than the 1.2 million tickets available at this stage, UEFA promises a “fair and transparent” draw to decide who gets one. Given the high level of interest, this seems likely to happen.

That means that fans will need to rely on Lady Luck if they want to be present in at one of the stadiums around Germany during the Euros – though you’ll only be in with a chance in the first place if you submit an application.

When do I have the best chance of getting tickets?

The best odds are probably in the first phase of ticket sales this month, when 1.2 million tickets are available for purchase. The downside of applying during this phase, however, is that you won’t know what matches you’re applying for – aside from those involving hosts Germany. This will only be clarified after the draw for the group stages of the tournament in Hamburg on December 2nd.

After that, there will be another ticket application phase, which is mainly aimed at fans of the qualified nations. In this phase, around one million tickets will be put on the market.

Italy celebrate their win in the UEFA Euros 2021.

Italy celebrate their win in the UEFA Euros 2021. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Christian Charisius

Further phases will follow after the play-offs in March, where the remaining participants of the tournament will be decided, and shortly before the tournament in the “last minute sale” as well as during the tournament for the knock-out round.

Matches will be played in Berlin, Munich, Leipzig, Hamburg, Dortmund, Gelsenkirchen, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt/Main and Stuttgart – so there’s likely to be one near you no matter whereabouts in the country you live.

What happens if I don’t win tickets in the raffle?

According to UEFA, unsuccessful applicants will be automatically entered into the so-called ‘Fans First’ programme, which notifies fans when tickets become available due to missed payments or cancellations.

That means that you could still be in with a chance of nabbing a cheap ticket even if you aren’t successful at first – but priority will be given to people depending on their position in the lottery draw.

How much do the tickets cost?

The cheapest tickets are available for €30 in the preliminary round, with the exception of the opening match in Munich, where tickets are available from €50.

From the round of 16 onward, all ticket categories will go up in price. In the most expensive tier, a normal group match ticket costs at least €200, which tickets for the final July 14th Berlin’s Olympic Stadium cost €1,000. The prices are staggered over the course of the tournament and become more expensive with each knockout round.

Belgium vs Italy football Euros

Belgium play Italy in Munich during the European Championships of 2021. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Federico Gambarini

In the preliminary round this month, tickets cost between €30 and €200 for general group matches, and between €50 and €600 for the opening match.

This is followed by the round of 16 (€50 to €250), the quarter-finals (€60 to €300), the semi-finals (€80 to €600) and the final, where tickets cost between €95 and €1,000. For people looking for more of a VIP experience – with no expense spared – immensely pricey hospitality packages have been on the market for some time.

Are tickets personalised? Can they be returned?

Yes, the tickets are personalised to the person who ordered them, meaning they can’t be exchanged. However, UEFA wants to make it possible to return tickets at the original purchase prices or resell them through official channels as a way of combating the pernicious black market.

If you book for up to three guests, you can add their names to the tickets later in the UEFA Euros app. If you’re lucky enough to score tickets for more than one match, your guests can vary from match to match.

What about children?

Children who are old enough to need their own seat – i.e. anyone who isn’t a baby or toddler – will need tickets to attend the matches.

“All children, regardless of their age, need a valid ticket and are therefore allocated a seat,” UEFA explained on their website. And don’t expect to get any discounts either: unlike in the Bundesliga, ticket prices aren’t divided into full-fare and concessions.

It’s also worth noting that a certain number of tickets for fans with disabilities will be provided for each match.

“These tickets will be offered in the cheapest category, regardless of where the accessible seats are located in the stadium,” the organisers write.

In addition, a free ticket for an accompanying person can be requested. Standing room is not available at the Euros.

Member comments

Anonymous - 3 October 2023 at 11:46 CEST

thank you for this information, would have completely missed it otherwise

Become a Member to leave a comment.

Now widely known as the Summer Fairytale (Sommermärchen), the tournament is remembered as the moment a unified Germany shook off the shadows of its dark past and showed the world a new, modern face.

On the field, the German team coached by Jurgen Klinsmann overcame dire pre-tournament predictions to make it to the semi-finals.

Despite losing in extra time to eventual champions Italy and eventually finishing third, Germany’s performance kick-started a decade of dominance that peaked with the 2014 World Cup triumph in Brazil.

Off the field, the tournament changed not only the way the world saw Germany, but the manner in which Germany saw itself.

Philipp Lahm, a key player in 2006 who captained Germany to World Cup glory eight years later, told AFP: “In 2006 we were able to experience the whole nation standing behind the team and giving us energy.

“The celebrations are good. That people come here to Germany and celebrate a big festival together.”

‘Where are all the Germans?’

German sports sociologist and philosopher Gunter Gebauer told AFP the tournament had a sudden and long-lasting impact.

“Before the tournament, the mood in Germany was very, very poor. The economy was not going well. The weather was bad and the football was atrocious.

“And then the World Cup started and during Germany’s first game against Costa Rica, Philipp Lahm scored and the sun burst through — it was almost like something from the Bible.”

Living in a middle-class Berlin suburb, Gebauer saw a neighbour unfurl a German flag from his balcony, previously considered a “taboo” due to the nation’s post-World War II reservations with nationalism.

“From there, we saw German flags and singing the anthem at Germany games — something which just didn’t exist before.”

The dissolving of internal reservations meant World Cup visitors saw a different side to the straight, rule-enforcing Germans familiar from national stereotypes.

“Foreigners who came to Germany were delighted with the German public.

“The English people asked ‘where are all the bloody Germans? We’ve only come across friendly people who are partying everywhere’.”

Wolfgang Männig, a rower who won gold for Germany at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, is now a professor of sports economics at Hamburg University.

‘Feel-good effect’

In an interview with AFP, Männig said while the economic benefits of large events were often negligible, “the feel-good effect was the essence of the 2006 World Cup.”

Before the World Cup, “Germans were not exactly considered world leaders when it comes to being welcoming,” but after 2006 “Germany has improved significantly in international perceptions.”

Albärt, the mascot of the UEFA Euro 2024 European Football Championships, poses with the tournament’s trophy and a ball at the Allianz Arena stadium, one of the host stadiums that will be called Munich Football Arena during the UEFA Euro 2024 European Football Championships. Photo: ALEXANDRA BEIER / AFP

“I believe that foreigners see us completely differently, no longer as unenthusiastic, somewhat peculiar people, but as open and happy, which made us more comfortable with how we see ourselves.”

Jan Haut, a sports sociologist at Goethe University, told AFP “the German people became a bit less stiff. They were more comfortable and confident celebrating victories of the national team”.

“What was rather new was that Germans themselves became more aware that in other countries the picture of Germany isn’t as bad as the Germans had thought,” he added.

‘Only football can do this’

While 18 years have passed and both Germany and the world have changed, many parallels remain.

Germany again is wracked by economic uncertainty, infrastructure concerns and fears of poor on-field performances.

Haut said the world’s attention would again shine a light on Germany, for bad and for good.

“In the worst case, there might be some surprises — maybe that people become aware that things don’t work so well in Germany currently, like public transport.”

After the humiliation of two successive World Cup exits in the group stage, Germany have shown signs of life under coach Julian Nagelsmann.

They won just three of 11 games in 2023 but rebounded with strong wins over France and Netherlands in March.

Whatever the team’s results in the tournament, Maennig said Germany could bank on the unifying impact of the national sport.

“As a rower I say this with a bit of sorrow in my voice, but only football can bring people together like this. The cafes and restaurants show the games on monitors and you can sit and watch in a friendly atmosphere.

“It’s really quite enchanting.”