Euro 2016: How it works and what is different

The National offers an explainer for what's new and how things work for Euro 2016, which starts June 10 in France.

Below, The National presents an explainer for Euro 2016, which starts June 10 in France:

What’s different, format:

There are eight more teams than in the past, and two more groups, with a round of 16 introduced.

What’s different rules:

There are number of new laws concerning the pitch, kit and other minutiae of the tournament. Here are some of the more relevant ones:

Penalties – Goalkeepers who come off the line too early and players who feint at the end of a run-up will be booked. Such stutters, jerks or stops are still allowed in the run-up.

Off-pitch fouls – Will result in a free kick. Importantly, the rule also implies a penalty can be awarded if the off-pitch offence happens parallel to the penalty area.

Offside – Hands and arms are not included when judging the offence.

Outside interference – If an outside party (sub, player, match official) interrupts play, a direct free-kick or penalty may be given.

Straight reds – Impeding a clear goal-scoring chance in the area no longer is necessarily a straight red. Violent conduct, even absent conduct, can result in a red. Offences against officials will result in a direct free-kick or penalty.

Group play:

There are six groups of four (24 teams in all) of which 16 will advance to the first knockout round which starts June 25. The teams all play each other once, a total of three matches.

The top two in each group go through, simple enough, to make 12. The six third-placed teams will then be ranked on points earned in their respective groups (and then goal difference), with the top four advancing to the knockouts and the bottom two getting eliminated.

Knockouts:

Determining the draw for the next round is where things get highly complicated. Four of the eight last-16 matches will be are pre-determined. Those are:

Winner Group E v Runner-up Group D; Winner Group F v Runner-up Group E; Runner-up Group B v Runner-up Group F; Runner-up Group A v Runner-up Group C.

The third-place situation:

The other four matches involve the group winners from A-D each playing a third-placed team.

Which team they each play will be determined by the combination of four third-place teams that advance out of the groups: A full table of permutations can be found here.

Everything from there is simple and straightforward as always.

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