This is an exciting time for football fans. We’re in the middle of World Cup qualifier matches, Optus Sport has announced it will be airing the FIFA Women’s World Cup and the UEFA Euro and Copa América tournaments are on the way.
If you’re keen to catch all the action around the EURO 2020 and Copa América 2021, we’ve pulled together all the details you need to know right now.
What are the UEFA Euro 2020 and Copa América 2021 tournaments?
For the uninitiated, the UEFA Euro is a football competition featuring the men’s national teams within the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). For a competition first this year, the event will be hosted across 11 cities.
The UEFA Euro 2020 will kick off with the following group stages:
Group A: Turkey, Italy, Wales, Switzerland
Group B: Denmark, Finland, Belgium, Russia
Group C: Netherlands, Ukraine, Austria, North Macedonia
Group D: England, Croatia, Scotland, Czech Republic
Group E: Spain, Sweden, Poland, Slovakia
Group F: Hungary, Portugal, France, Germany
Similarly, CONMEBOL Copa América is a tournament featuring the men’s national teams within the South American Football Confederation.
There has been a fair bit of news about this event, with Argentina and Colombia deciding to pull out as hosts of the competition as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Brazil has since stepped in to host the tournament despite the World Health Organisation advising against the decision. Brazil has been particularly hard hit by the virus.
As it stands, the group schedule for the Copa América is:
Group A: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay (formerly Australia)
Group B: Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela (formerly Qatar)
As there are only 10 members in the CONMEBOL, during each tournament two guest nations are invited to join – building the competition to 12 countries.
This time around the guest nations were Australia and the host of the FIFA World Cup for 2022, Qatar. The Socceroos and Qatar have since withdrawn from the competition, however.
When are these football tournaments?
The UEFA Euro is set to run from June 11 to July 11 2021 (June 12 to July 12 in Australia).
The Copa América is scheduled to run from June 13 to July 10 (June 14 to July 10 in Australia).
How do I watch the UEFA Euro 2020 and Copa América 2021 in Australia?
Optus Sport is set to be the home of these football comps this year. In a statement on the news, it shared that “Starting this weekend, Optus Sport will exclusively broadcast 79 international matches across 31 days, and subscribers can expect a world-class standard of coverage and punditry out of live studios in Sydney and London, along with pitch-side analysis across Europe”.
UEFA EURO 2020 kicks-off live on Optus Sport on June 12, with Copa América commencing on June 14.
The broadcaster’s programming plan for the moment is listed as:
8:00 pm AEST – Live on TikTok with Claudes
9:00 pm AEST – Euro 2020 Warm-Up
10:30 pm AEST onwards – Match Coverage
7:30 am AEST – Euro Brekky Wrap
If you’re an Optus customer, you may get access to Optus Sport included in your plan so keep an eye out for that. Non-Optus customers can subscribe for $14.99 per month, or for a limited time, grab a 3-month plan for $29.99 or an Annual Pass for $99 for 12 months (just keep in mind those deals automatically renew unless you cancel afterwards).
