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This Saturday, 7 June, sees the start of Euro 2008, European football's most important championship. Contrary to what normally happens with the tournament (which is held every four years) this year's event is organised by two countries, Austria and Switzerland, rather than just one.

Euro 2008 will be played in eight cities, four of which are in Austria (Innsbruck, Klagenfurt, Salzburg and Vienna) and four in Switzerland (Basel, Berne, Geneva and Zurich). Sixteen teams will take part, the fourteen that came through the qualifying rounds plus Austria and Switzerland, which qualify automatically as host countries.

The teams are split into four groups comprising four teams. Group A is made up of Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Portugal and Turkey; Group B comprises Austria, Croatia, Germany and Poland; Group C consists of the Netherlands, Italy, Romania and France; and Group D is made up of Greece, Sweden, Spain and Russia.

The best two teams from each group go through to the quarter-finals, which will decide the semi-finalists, two of which will dispute the final on 29 June at the Ernst Happel Stadium in the Austrian capital, Vienna.

Only one leading side failed to reach Euro 2008: England. The team's absence contrasts with the fact that two English clubs, Manchester United and Chelsea, reached the final of the Champions League this year.