[12] The qualifying draw took place at the Palais des Congrès Acropolis in Nice, on 23 February 2014,[5] with the first matches being played in September 2014.

[18] In May 2013, Platini confirmed a similar qualifying format would be again discussed during the September 2013 UEFA executive committee meeting in Dubrovnik.

[23] Four teams secured their first qualification to a UEFA European Championship final tournament: Albania, Iceland, Northern Ireland, and Wales.

[22] Northern Ireland and Wales had each previously competed in the FIFA World Cup, while Albania and Iceland had never participated in a major tournament.

[22][24][25] Similarly, both Austria and Ukraine completed successful qualification campaigns for the first time, having only previously qualified as hosts (of 2008 and 2012 respectively).

The draw for the finals took place at the Palais des Congrès de la Porte Maillot in Paris on 12 December 2015, 18:00 CET.

The choice for the first seven was undisputed – the national Stade de France, four newly constructed ones in Lille Metropole (Villeneuve-d'Ascq), Décines-Charpieu (Lyon Metropolis), Nice and Bordeaux, and two stadiums in the two largest cities, Paris and Marseille.

After Strasbourg opted out for financial reasons following relegation,[40] two more venues were selected to be Lens and Nancy, leaving Toulouse and Saint-Étienne as reserve options.

In June 2011, the number of host venues was increased to eleven due to the new tournament format featuring 24 teams, instead of the previous 16.

Then, in December 2011, Nancy announced its withdrawal from the tournament, after plans for the stadium's renovation were cancelled,[43] finalising the list of host venues at ten.

[17] Each national team had to submit a squad of 23 players, three of whom had to be goalkeepers, at least ten days before the opening match of the tournament.

[117] Full list:[117] Extra payment based on team's performance: A player was automatically suspended for the next match for the following offences:[16] The following suspensions were served during the tournament:[118] Pre-tournament concerns included heavy flooding of the River Seine in Paris,[119] and strikes in the transport sector shortly before the beginning of the event.

[120] Following the attacks on Paris on 13 November 2015, including one in which the intended target was a game at the Stade de France, controversies about the safety of players and tourists during the upcoming tournament arose.

Noël Le Graët, president of the French Football Federation, explained that the concern for security had increased following the attacks.

[124] On 11 June, violent clashes erupted in the streets of the same city before and after the Group B match between England and Russia that ended in a 1–1 draw.

[126] On 14 June, the Russian team were given a suspended disqualification, fined €150,000, and warned that future violence would result in their removal from the cup.

As a result of these incidents and earlier crowd troubles after the countries' first matches, UEFA launched official procedures against the Croatian and Turkish football federations.

[133][134] UEFA tournament director Martin Kallen blamed heavy rain for damaged turf, though the press speculated that non-football events may have also been a contributor.

[137] Despite UEFA applying numerous methods to rectify the problems, such as a ban on pre-match training on the pitch, use of fertilisers, seeding, mowing, light therapy, drying and playing with the roof closed to avoid rain, it was decided that the pitch at Lille had to be entirely replaced following the Italy–Republic of Ireland group match on 22 June.

[143] UEFA's Leeds-based consultant Richard Hayden had come under criticism as it was reported he ordered local groundsmen to re-lay three pitches (Lille, Nice, and Marseille) with Slovak grass, provided by an Austrian company for an estimated €600,000 (£460,000).

[142] Before the final match started, the stadium was invaded by Silver Y moths, which caused some irritation to the players, staff and coaches.

The reason this occurred is because the workers at the stadium left the lights switched on the day before the match which attracted huge swaths of insects.

[147][148] One moth was infamously captured flying on and around Cristiano Ronaldo's face when he was sitting on the pitch after being injured during the match.

[149] The UEFA Euro 2016 video game was released by Konami as a free DLC on Pro Evolution Soccer 2016.

[153] Conceived by Portuguese agency Brandia Central, which also created the visual identity for the previous European Championship, the design is based on the theme "Celebrating the art of football".

The logo depicts the Henri Delaunay Trophy with the blue, white and red colours of the French flag, surrounded by a mixture of shapes and lines representing different artistic movements and football elements.

Asked about its meaning, Jacques Lambert, chairman of the Euro 2016 organising committee, told that the slogan "is much more than a reminder of dates (...) and venues".

[156] The "Adidas Beau Jeu", used for the group stage, was unveiled on 12 November 2015 by former France player Zinedine Zidane.

[159] It is based on the idea of victory and references the boy's super powers that he gained when he found the magic cape, boots and ball.

[162][163][164] It was reported that David Guetta sought one million fans to add their voices to the official anthem via a website.