Euro 2024: Germany beats Turkey to host the tournament

Germany beat Turkey to host the Euro 2024 after a vote of the Uefa Executive Committee on Thursday.

Both countries made final presentations before the vote in Nyon, Switzerland.

This decision means that Germany will host the European Championship for the first time as a unified country, with West Germany hosting the 1988 tournament.

Turkey still has to organize a big international football tournament.

There have been previous attempts to host euros in 2008, 2012 and 2016, as well as the summer Olympics 2020. Germany has organized the 2006 World Cup.

"The procedure was transparent"

The Euro 2024 will return to a single host format after the holding of the Euro 2020 throughout Europe, including Germany.

Before announcing the winner, UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin said Germany and Turkey had made "very strong offers".

After announcing the winner, he added: "The procedure was transparent, the vote was democratic, and every democratic decision is the right decision, so I can only say that I can not wait to see a fantastic euro in 2024."

The Euro 2024 will feature 24 teams, which will run in June and July, with 51 games scheduled for up to 32 days.

Berlin will host the final, while matches will also be held in Cologne, Dortmund, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Gelsenkirchen, Hamburg, Leipzig, Munich and Stuttgart.

Former Germany captain Philipp Lahm, ambassador for his country's bid, said: "We have incredible stadiums, fans who love football. First we have people who like to celebrate with other Europeans.

"We will organize a big football party in Germany."

Germany and Turkey were the only countries in the running for the Euro 2024 and, in the wake, an evaluation report of the Uefa indicated that the offer of Turkey entailed risks.

The report adds that Turkey's lack of action plan in the field of human rights and limited hotel capacity in many cities is a "worrying" issue. She also described the scale of transportation infrastructure work as "risk".

However, he said the Turkish candidacy was "in line with the long-term goals of UEFA".