Euro 2020 four semi-finalists enjoy key home advantage

MADRID: The home advantage enjoyed by the host nation or nations at a tournament is always a factor, but Euro 2020, with so many host cities, presented a situation never seen before. It seems that the advantage of playing at home remains as solid as ever, with all four Euro 2020 semi-finalists having played the entire group stage in their own country.

Italy beat Turkey, Switzerland and Wales at Rome’s Stadio Olimpico. They then knocked out Austria and Belgium in London and Munich respectively.

Spain played their group games at La Cartuja in Seville, drawing with Sweden and Poland before thrashing Slovakia. For the last 16, they travelled to Copenhagen and Saint Petersburg.

Denmark lost to Finland and Belgium before beating Russia in three group games in Copenhagen. Their knockout games so far have been in Amsterdam and Baku.

England are the team who have played most games at home. They drew with Scotland and defeated Croatia and the Czech Republic at

Wembley in London in the group stage before beating Germany at the same venue in the last 16. The quarter-final victory over Ukraine in Rome was England’s first and last game away from Wembley in the tournament.

The three remaining Euro 2020 games will all be at Wembley in London. That means if England reach the final, they will have played six of their seven games at home, giving them the biggest home advantage of all the hosts.

It is telling that all four semifinalists had three home games in the group stage. Besides the semifinalists, only two other teams played all three group games at home: Germany and the Netherlands. Both lost in the round of 16 in their first matches outside their own country, the Spanish MARCA newspaper reported.

The tournament, being held in 11 cities in 11 UEFA countries, was originally scheduled from 12 June to 12 July 2020, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe and rescheduled for 11 June to 11 July 2021.