European Championship – The News Desk

Beer, Euro 2024, and all those cups – what’s going on?

29Jun

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Beer, Euro 2024, and all those cups – what’s going on?

Follow live coverage of Switzerland vs Italy and Germany vs Denmark at Euro 2024 todayThe European Championship has been drenched in beer. In the fan zones and outside the stadiums. On the concourses and in the stands.Everyone has been drenched. Fans, players and, much to the amusement of everyone not wearing a lanyard, journalists, who have been sheltering laptops and walking into press conferences dripping with booze.Get the tiny violins. Possibly a towel.We do need to talk about the plastic cups, which have been cascading down from the stands towards anyone taking a corner or goal kick.The beer first, though.The official sponsor of the tournament is Bitburger, the German brewer, and the concourse bars are exclusively stocked with their products. For matches at the Allianz Arena, for in...

Casement Park – Euro 2028’s derelict stadium caught in a storm of politics and protests

Northern Ireland’s doomed bid to reach the 2024 European Championship will have a suitably downbeat conclusion at Windsor Park in Belfast tonight. Denmark, who ensured their qualification on Friday, are the visitors.It had been hoped this would be a major occasion, a Group H play-off of sorts, with the home side inspired as before by the raucous Windsor Park atmosphere. But it has been a hugely disappointing campaign for Michael O’Neill in his second spell as manager.While Denmark were qualifying, O’Neill’s team were losing 4-0 in Finland, making it seven defeats in the first nine group games. The two exceptions were both against lowly San Marino.There have been mitigating factors — injuries have been decimating. Last week, O’Neill cancelled training as only seven players were available. ...

Erling Haaland is rapidly closing in on an international record that has stood since 1934

Erling Haaland is just six away from Norway’s goalscoring record, so it is surely inevitable that he will soon be his nation’s most prolific striker ever.On one hand, that will have happened remarkably quickly – Haaland only scored his first goals for Norway in 2020. On the other, this has been an incredibly long time coming.GO DEEPERWhat is Haaland really like?Of the 213 FIFA-affiliated nations, Norway’s is the longest-standing outright individual goalscoring record in the world. It was set by Jorgen Juve, a fascinating figure who ended his international career in 1937 and later became a renowned sports journalist in his home country.Juve scored a relatively modest 33 goals in 45 matches for Norway, including five hat-tricks, although his tally is made remarkable by the fact he played as...