A closer look at the frontrunners for the Euro 2024 title

The 17th UEFA European Championship, EURO 2024, is set to begin this Friday, with 24 teams vying for the title and glory across 10 venues in Germany.

The previous edition, EURO 2020, which was postponed to 2021 due to the pandemic, saw Italy triumph over England at Wembley.

Ahead of this highly anticipated tournament, The Daily Star's sports podcast Pitch Perfect delves into the month-long football extravaganza in its latest episode, examining the main competitors for the prestigious silverware. Tune in and prepare for a spectacular football feast!

HIGHLIGHTS

*Euro 2024 will be the 17th edition of the competition and only the second occasion that the tournament will be hosted by Germany after the major event was played in West Germany in 1988.

*Italy's triumph in the 2020 edition – their second European Championship - meant the Azzurri became the fourth side to have won the competition more than once after Germany (3), Spain (3), and France (2).

*Ten nations have won Europe's most elite international prize. Russia (as the Soviet Union) won the inaugural edition in 1960 beating Yugoslavia 2-1 in the final. Interestingly, the highest-scoring game in the history of the tournament – a nine-goal thriller - also came in this edition in France as Yugoslavia beat the hosts 5-4 in the tournament opener.

*Spain became the first team to win consecutive European Championships, in 2008 and 2012 respectively and won the 2010 World Cup in between which made them also the first side to win three international tournaments in a row.

*Only on three occasions has a host nation gone on to win the title, with the latest side in that regard being France back in 1984. Spain (in 1964) and Italy (in 1968) are the other two sides to have triumphed on home soil.

*Netherlands hold the record for netting the most number of goals in a match. As joint hosts in the 2000 edition, Netherlands thrashed Yugoslavia 6-1 which remains the only time a team has scored six in a European Championship game.

*The European Championship has seen 22 penalty shootouts overall. The first shootout took place in the 1976 final between Czechoslovakia and West Germany. It included one of the most iconic penalties ever scored as Antonín Panenka disguised a delicate chipped effort into the goal to secure Czechoslovakia the title.

*Cristiano Ronaldo tops the all-time scoring charts in European Championship history with 14 goals, five clear of second-placed Michel Platini. Ronaldo's goals have come across five different editions while Platini scored all of his nine goals in France's title-winning 1984 edition. Platini holds the record for most goals in a single edition.

*Ronaldo also holds the record for most appearances in Euros with 25 in total.

*Austria's Ivica Vastic became the competition's oldest goal-scorer at 38 years and 257 days when he converted a penalty in stoppage-time against Poland in the 2008 edition. Cristiano Ronaldo, aged 39 and set to feature in his sixth European Championship, will be eyeing to make that record his own.

*At 40 years and 86 days, former Hungary goalkeeper Gabor Kiraly, who played in the 2016 edition, became the oldest player to feature in the competition. He also garnered a lot of attention for goalkeeping wearing his grey sweatpants.

WHO'S NEXT?

2024:    ?
2021: Italy
2016: Portugal
2012: Spain
2008: Spain
2004: Greece
2000: France
1996: Germany
1992: Denmark
1988: Netherlands
1984: France
1980: West Germany
1976: Czechoslovakia
1972: West Germany
1968: Italy
1964: Spain
1960: Soviet Union