How to watch Euro 2021 Group A – Stream Italy v Turkey

The Euros are nearly upon us, and Europe’s elite international teams will be battling it out over the next 30 days to see who rules the continent supreme. 

In most European countries the games will be free to air – but if you want to tune in from elsewhere in the world, you’ll likely have to pay a hefty subscription service fee to the company that owns the broadcasting rights for your region – unless you have a VPN, that is.

First up in Group A is Italy vs Turkey. This guide will show you how to watch Euro 2021 from anywhere without a cable subscription, legal stream using just a VPN.

How to watch Italy vs Turkey in 5 steps

Here are the steps you’ll have to take to stream Italy vs Turkey on a high-definition European channel. 

The best ways to watch Italy vs Turkey

Below is the list of European channels showing Euro 2020 games for free, with some additional information about what they’re planning to air. These aren’t the only channels broadcasting Euro 2020 matches for free, but they are likely to pool the largest audiences.

Services like the BBC and ITV are splitting games between them, whereas broadcasters like Mediaset España will be showing all 51 matches taking place at the tournament. 

Why use a VPN to stream Italy vs Turkey?

If you live inside of Europe, you’ll probably be able to watch Euro 2020 for free on TV. If you live outside of Europe, however, these channels will be geo-restricted (blocked). On local channels in your region, the game might not be aired at all, and if it is, it’s likely to be showing on a subscription service that demands a monthly fee. 

If you have a VPN, however, you won’t get stuck in this position ever again. A VPN will let you access a free-to-air, high-definition stream in a European country of your choice. 

VPNs have private servers dotted all over the world, and they reroute your traffic through them when you use their service. This process encrypts your traffic and means that websites – from Netflix to BBC iPlayer – never see your true IP address and, in turn, your true location. Instead, they see the IP address of the VPN server you connected to – so websites can’t enforce the usual geo-restrictions they usually would. 

What time does Italy vs Turkey start?

Turkey vs Italy kicks off at 21:00 in Rome’s Stadio Olimpico in Italy (which is 20:00 GMT) on Friday 11 June 2021. Although not technically a ‘home’ game for Italy, their players will surely appreciate the familiar surroundings. 

Wales and Switzerland, who take up the remaining spots in Group A, play the day after on Saturday 12 June at 15:00. They will both have to make the long trip from their respective countries in Western Europe to Baku, the capital city of Azerbaijan, to play against each other. 

What channel is Italy vs Turkey on?

Italian and Turkish fans living in their respective home countries can stream the game on free-to-air broadcasters RAI (Italy) and TRT (Turkey). 

For those who’d like English commentary, the game will be shown live and for free on the BBC. It will also be available on a free-to-air channel in places like Spain. More information on the largest European channels airing the Euros for free can be found below. 

Can I stream Italy vs Turkey online for free?

All the Euro 2020 games will be played between June 11 to July 11 – a nice, round 30 days period. Conveniently, premium, paid-for VPN services like ExpressVPN offer a 30-day money-back guarantee.

This means you can install a given provider’s VPN software, use it to watch Euro 2020 for 30 days, and then claim your refund back if you really want to. This means you can watch the entirety of the Euros in HD for free because the only cost you’ll be incurring is temporary and refundable.  

The reason providers like ExpressVPN offer a month-long money-back guarantee is that a lot of people only truly realize the benefits of a VPN after taking it out for a spin themselves. It will transform your sports streaming experience, but also other realms of entertainment. With a service like ExpressVPN, for example, you can access virtually all the Netflix libraries you could ever ask for and, in turn, thousands more movies and shows than you otherwise would be able to. 

Why you should avoid illegal streaming sites for Euro 2020

As with every major football tournament or game that’s taken place over the past few years, there will sadly be some people who choose to stream it illegally. Not only is that against the law, but it’s also really dangerous for those who attempt to do so. Illegal streaming sites are full of adware and malware – those pop-ups and ad overlays, and random tabs that open aren’t just benign bits of software. 

On top of this, illegal streaming sites are notorious for providing poor picture quality and can suddenly cut off in the middle of games. VPNs are cheap, easy to use and have a wealth of other benefits, so using one instead to access a free, HD stream with a commentary language you understand is a no-brainer. 

Group A: meet the teams

Italy 

Italy topped their qualifying group with an impressive 10 wins out of 10, so will be heading into the tournament buoyed by these impressive performances. In fact, since 2018, the Azzurri have been on a bit of a footballing rampage. With former Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini at the helm, the Italian team has equaled their own record for most consecutive games without being beaten (25) and will be looking to extend that into Euro 2020.

The resurgence could be a collective response to Italy’s failure to qualify for the World Cup in 2018 – the first time in 60 years. Gianluigi Donarumma – who has already played almost 250 games for AC Milan despite being only 22 years old, will be looking to make an impression in his first major international tournament.

They have a good pedigree in this tournament too. Italy emerged as victors in 1968 but more recently reaching the final in 2000 and again in 2012. They’ll be hoping they go one further this time – but they’ll have to get out of a tricky group first. 

Wales

Even the most passionate England supporters couldn’t help but cheer on Wales when they went to battle in their first tournament semi-final in Euro 2016 after overcoming superior-on-paper Belgium 3-1 in the quarters. Aaron Ramsey, now at Italian giants Juventus, topped the tournament assists charts, whilst Gareth Bale became the nation’s talisman in the attack. Building on this elite-level success, Wales also topped their UEFA Nations League group in November, a strong suggestion that high standards have been maintained.

This sort of recent form would usually mean expectations going into this year’s tournament will naturally be higher than usual for the competition’s second-smallest nation. However, it was recently announced that Robert Page would take over as Wales manager for Euro 2020 in the midst of a court case involving now ex-manager Ryan Giggs that has so far culminated in the former Manchester United player being charged with assaulting two women. 

Page has over 550 appearances in the English football league system and has been assistant manager of Wales since 2019. Since he became involved with the team, Wales has only lost two international matches, both of which were against teams inside the top 5 of the FIFA world rankings. 

Turkey

Turkey could well be the surprise package of this tournament. Rather unfairly, they’re often left out of dark horse conversations despite having a well-respected domestic league full of teams that can compete – or are amongst – Europe’s elite as well as a recent history of international success. The Crescent Stars have been involved in every European Championship since 96 with the exception of Euro 2012 – including a semi-final appearance in 2008 – and even reached the semi-finals of the 2002 World Cup, eventually finishing in third place. 

A lot of the country’s hopes this time round will be pinned on striker Burak Yilmaz, who recently scored a wonderful hat-trick in his country’s 4-2 demolition of the Netherlands. Bar a short spell in China, Yilmaz has spent his entire career hopping between Turkey’s top clubs but recently made the switch to Lille OSC in France at the ripe age of 35. His 12 goals and quality on the ball have played a pivotal role in Lille’s climb to the top of the table, where they currently sit in front of star-studded rivals PSG. 

At the other end, Turkey’s defense may prove hard to break down if Leicester City’s Caglar Soyuncu and Juventus’ Merih Demiral can translate the quality they’ve shown at club level over the past two years onto the international stage. 

Switzerland

The Swiss team will likely be looking at this group and wondering whether they can pinch the top spot off Italy. Although they’ve lost in the last 6 months to the likes of Belgium and Spain, hard-fought draws against the latter, as well as Germany will give the squad some confidence – as will the fact they’ve successfully navigated the group stage of every international tournament they’ve entered since 2014. 

Yet, despite sitting 13th in the FIFA world rankings – ahead of the likes Croatia, Sweden, and Wales – and having a strong side by their own standards, the team will be all too aware that they have never progressed beyond the quarter-finals of a major international tournament. In fact, they’ve never won a knockout game in the country’s history. That’s certainly a trend they’ll want to buck at Euro 2020. 

Arsenal’s Granit Xhaka has turned into a pivotal player for the Swiss team, a linchpin at the base of midfield with excellent vision and a propensity for a tackle – even if it does come along with more than the occasional card. Xherdan Shaqiri will be hoping he’s given the chance to have more of an impact than he has at Liverpool, and he’s a man you want in your Starting XI for a big international game; he arguably scored the goal of the tournament at Euro 2016 with a stunning bicycle kick. Watch the scorcher below:

Group A: team news and the story so far 

All of Group A’s teams have been recently involved in qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup, which is being staged in Qatar. Italy, Turkey, and Switzerland have all started brightly, winning all their games so far. Wales have posted a loss, but are in a tough group alongside both Czechia and Belgium. 

Squads for these March qualifiers may change, and although they give somewhat of an indication of who managers might be starting to trust going into the tournament – as well as what formation they might use – anyone who follows international football closely will know it is not a foregone conclusion. 

With no more qualifiers or nations league fixtures to play and league seasons coming to an end across Europe, all eyes will soon be on Euro 2020. 

Group A standings

Teams	PL	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	P
Italy	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Switzerland	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Turkey	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Wales	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0