Euro 2016: A Tour de France of all the venues

First the good news: veterans of Ireland's ill-fated 2012 campaign can sleep easy; Croatia, like Italy, will be second seeds for the finals of Euro 2016, in France, next summer and so a repeat of the nightmare group line-up Giovanni Trapattoni and his men faced in Poland is not possible this time.

The expansion of the tournament, in fact, means even the worst-case scenario could not be as bad as the one three years ago in which Ireland found themselves competing with those two plus the reigning world champions for a place in the tournament’s quarter-finals.

Martin O’Neill will find out on December 12th just who his side must overcome this time and the team’s supporters will discover the same day just what sort of logistical challenge they face to get around to the group days next summer.

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Lens: Work on the heavily updated Stafe Bollaert-Delilis is just about complete, and the venue is due to reopen for games next month. It is named after Félix Bollaert, commercial director of a local mining company, and André Delelis, a local politician who died during its reconstruction. It will hold 35,000 people, about as many in Lens itself, and will host three group games and one round of 16 encounter.

From the team’s point of view, the first game will again, as it was in Poland, be of critical importance, particularly if drawn as team “four” in their group as it will mean that their final outing will be against the top seeds. Getting points on the board early on will therefore be vital.

For the supporters, getting drawn in Group A (the only one with a side already identified: hosts, France) would probably make life a little more manageable. The Irish team would kick off their tournament in Lens then head to the Parc des Princes in Paris, before finishing up with a game against the French in Lille. The whole thing would lend itself fairly handily to staying in the capital with easy train connections

None of the other five groups would be quite so straightforward. Group C, which would involve starting out on the Cote D’Azur with a game in Nice before heading north to Paris via Lyon, is perhaps the most enticing, but all involve games in the south or southeast – both in the case of Group F – and some long drives or train rides.

Wherever they are, the 10 venues are set to impress. A few have been built from scratch for the tournament, some have involved major renovations at existing stadiums, and a couple are among the game's best venues in Europe. The following is a basic guide.

Bordeaux

The Nouveau Stade de Bordeaux, which replaces one of the 1998 World Cup’s most distinctive venues, opened in May. It has been used regularly this season for Ligue One club games and other events. It holds 42,115 people and cost €183 million to construct.

The design, by the same firm that was behind Bayern Munich’s home and the Bird’s Nest stadium in Beijing, incorporates about 900 stanchions intended to evoke the region’s forest landscape. It will host four group games and a quarter-final. Lens Work on the heavily updated Stafe Bollaert-Delilis is just about complete, and the venue is due to reopen for games next month. It is named after Félix Bollaert, commercial director of a local mining company, and André Delelis, a local politician who died during its reconstruction. It will hold 35,000 people, about as many in Lens itself, and will host three group games and one round of 16 encounter.

Lille

The 50,000-seat Stade Mauroy opened in 2012 with an international rugby match between France and Australia. It has a retractable roof and half of the pitch can be raised for concerts and other events. It is twice the size of the stadium it replaces and will be the venue for four group games, a round of 16 match and a quarter-final.

Lyon

The city’s new Stafe des Lumieres (Stadium of Lights) is the centrepiece of a huge new sporting and commercial redevelopment on the outskirts of the city. It is due to open early in the new year at a cost of €250 million and will be home to Olympique Lyonnais, who had played at the Stafe de Gerland since the 1950s. That was a venue in 1998. It’s glittering replacement will be the scene for four group games, a round of 16 match and a semi-final this time around.

Marseille

The new Stade Velodrome looks a little like Dublin’s Aviva stadium thanks to its distinctive roof, but the €267 million venue is somewhat bigger with 67,000 seats. The cycling track is long gone and the supporters are right up beside the action in what will be one of the key venues of these championships.

The original stadium was built just ahead of the 1938 World Cup while the venue was again used in 1998. The current incarnation will host four group games, a quarter-final and a semi-final next summer.

Nice

Another one that bears more than a passing resemblance to the Irish team’s home, the Allianz Riviera, as it is known in everyday life, is a 35,000-seat stadium that opened a couple of years ago. It will also host rugby and various other events, and the impressive new national sports museum is housed in the stadium complex on the edge of the city. It will host three group games and a round of 16 tie.

Paris

Parc des Princes The original Velodrome dates back to 1897 and was for many years the finish line for the tour de France. In the 1960s, it was demolished to allow the construction of a ring road and the reconstructed stadium was designed with rugby and football in mind. It opened in 1972 and staged many major club and international matches until the opening of the Stade de France in the late 1990s. It has been modernised in recent years for Paris St Germain and now for this tournament. It will host four group games and a round of 16 tie.

St Denis The national football and rugby stadium since it was built for the 1998 World Cup, the stadium was the venue for that tournament's final and will host the first and last matches next summer. Irish fans may remember the place for that 2009 play-off game. Twenty years after its construction, it looks a bit dated, but it is an impressive venue. It will host four group games, a round of 16 game, a quarter-final and the final.

St Etienne

The original Stade Geoffroy-Guichard was built in 1930 when it was named for the local supermarket magnate who donated the land required for its construction. It's had a few makeovers since then and has been used as a venue both for the 1984 European Championships and the 2007 Rugby World Cup. Work on the newly updated, 42,000-seat stadium was finished late last year. It will host three group games and one round of 16 tie.

Toulouse

Another one with a fair bit of tournament history behind it, the Stade Municipal dates back to the 1938 World Cup and has since seen service in 1998 and, for rugby, in 2007. It has had two major overhauls since and has undergone further modernisation over the past couple of years. Next summer, it will hold 33,000 spectators and host three group games, as well as one round of 16 tie.