The 15th European Football Championship 2016 commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 will be held in France between 10 June and 10 July 2016.

Spain are the two-time defending champions, having won the 2008 and 2012 editions.

For the first time, the European Championship final tournament will be contested by 24 teams, having been expanded from the 16-team format used since 1996.

European Football Championship 2016 France

France was chosen as the host nation on 28 May 2010, after a bidding process in which they beat Italy and Turkey for the right to host the 2016 finals.

The matches will be played in ten stadia in ten cities: Bordeaux, Lens, Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Nice, Paris, Saint-Denis, Saint-Etienne, and Toulouse.

It will be the third time that France hosts the tournament, after the inaugural tournament in 1960 and the 1984 finals.

The French team have won the European Championship twice: in 1984 and 2000.

About European football championship

The European football championship is organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) every four years for the national men’s teams of the member associations.

It is the most prestigious event in European football and the most important UEFA event.

The first finals were held in 1960, when it was known as the European Nations Cup.

The name was changed to the European Football Championship in 1968.

Until 1976 only the 4 best teams took part in the final round.

This was increased to 8 teams in 1980 and 16 in 1996.

On 26 September 2008, UEFA decided that 24 teams could take part in the finals of the European Football Championship in 2016, playing a total of 51 matches.

On every occasion the teams reached the final tournament after playing qualifying rounds.

European football championship EURO 2016 Stamps

HUNGARY

Magyar Posta issued a special stamp to mark the European football championship 2016 in France.

The designs of the stamp, the first day cover and the postmark feature graphic compositions related to football.

Hungary will play at the European Championship for the first time in 44 years.

After beating Norway 1:0 away, they won 2:1 in the home leg of the play-off to secure their place at the finals to find Europe’s best.

Hungary will play its first match in Group F against Austria in Bordeaux on 14 June, then takes on Iceland in Marseilles on 18 June and plays the last group match against Portugal in Lyon on 22 June.

Date of Issue: 3 June 2016
Denominations: HUF 340
Source: Hungary Stamps

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