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The Swiss will get the competition off and running when they meet Czech Republic in the opening game in Basel at 1700 BST on Saturday. Over the next 23 days the tournament will cram in 31 games at eight different stadiums across the two countries.
Until 1980 only four teams competed in the European Championship finals, but since then it has grown into the third largest sporting event in the world after the World Cup and Olympic Games The build-up to the tournament has been relatively low key but Michel Platini, president of European football's governing body Uefa, said: "The party is about to start. What is really important is the feeling and emotion of the supporters."
The atmosphere is building ahead of the big kick-off, despite the recent poor weather. "Basel is very overcast and Euro 2008 organising chief Martin Kallen has expressed his hope that the sun will come out on Saturday," he said. "The Basel media has gone Euro mad, with plenty of articles focusing on how the tournament has really caught the imagination of the people; lots of photographs of front rooms decked out in Swiss colours and young ladies sporting temporary tattoos of their team's colours. "The final touches have been made to the Fan Zones which, with tickets like gold dust, are sure to be rammed come kick-off on Saturday. At the stadium, advertising banners and boards with directions on them are being positioned here, there and everywhere."
The organisers are hoping the footballing extravaganza will bring in a global TV audience in excess of eight billion viewers over 200 countries, while millions of fans are expected to travel from around Europe to watch the games.
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