Every year brings a huge feast of great sport, with so many massive annual events such as the various top football leagues from the UK, Europe and further afield, and the Champions League. Then there are the big four majors in both tennis and golf, horse racing’s annual showpiece events such as the Grand National, the Cheltenham Gold Cup and the Derby, and normal league and cup action in most sports, including both codes of rugby, cricket and much more.
But 2024 is certainly an extra special year, with two major events that only come around once every four years both taking place. As 2023 draws to a close, we take a look ahead to the many key sporting contests that will be taking place in 2024 and highlight some dates you should certainly be aware of.
Of course, there are so many sports to cover and this article does not intend to provide a complete list of every single event in all the sports that are widely played. Instead, this is a simple overview of what we believe are the biggest highlights of 2024. So, whether you intend to travel to see any of the brilliant action, want to know what days – or even whole weeks – you should be booking off work, or just want to get an idea of what is taking place in 2024, read on!
Paris 2024 Olympics
Before we come to those sports, generally the most popular in the UK, let us look at perhaps the biggest sporting event of the whole year. The Olympic Games (Summer) take place in Paris, beginning on the 26th of July and ending on the 11th of August. There will be 329 events, spanning 32 sports, so there really is something for everyone.
Football
As noted above, football has so many regular highlights but we aren’t going to list every single cup final and big match here. That’s mainly because in 2024 there is something even more exciting than a last-day tussle for the Premier League title, or perhaps even a Man City versus Arsenal Champions League final. And that is the 2024 Euros from Germany.
Scotland kick things off in the first game of the tournament against the hosts Germany on the 14th of June. The final, which the hosts will hope to make but may well struggle, will be on the 14th of July. Scotland’s other games are on the 19th of June (Switzerland) and 23rd of June (Hungary).
England are in Group C and play Serbia on the 16th of June, followed by Denmark on the 20th and Slovenia on the 25th. The Round of 16 games run from the 29th of Jun until the 2nd of July, with the quarters on the 5th and 6th of July, and the semi finals scheduled for the 9th and 10th of July.
Aside from the big German extravaganza, it is worth noting that the Champions League final will take place on the 1st of June, at Wembley. The last round of Premier League games is on the 19th of May, whilst the FA Cup final is on the 25th of May. Before all that, however, we have the League Cup final, with the first piece of silverware of the 2023/24 campaign handed out on the 25th of February.
- Euro 2024 – 14th June to 14th July
- Champions League Final – 1st June
- FA Cup Final – 25th May
- League Cup Final – 25th February
Horse Racing
When we include both the highlights of the National Hunt game and the action on the level, there are so many races are festivals we could have listed. Here are just a few of the major highlights and dates to mark in your diary:
- Cheltenham Festival – 12th to 15th of March
- Grand National – 13th of April
- Guineas Festival – 3rd to 5th of May
- Derby Festival – 31st of May-1st of June
- July Festival – 11th to 13 of July
- St Leger Festival – 12th to 15th of September
Tennis
Tennis has big tournaments and events pretty much all year round and will feature at the Olympics too. That said, the Grand Slams are what every fan and player gets most excited about and as usual the Australian Open gets the tennis year going in January. That takes place in Melbourne, from the 15th to the 28th of January. Next up is the French Open in Paris (26th of May to the 8th of June), then Wimbledon (1st of July to the 14th of July) and last of all the US Open from New York. That begins on the 26th of August and the last Slam of the year will be won on the 8th of September.
- Australian Open – 15th to 28th January
- French Open – 26th May to 8th June
- Wimbledon – 1st to 14th July
- US Open – 26th August to 8th September
Golf
As with tennis, for many casual golf fans, the big four events are the ones that matter. It will be interesting to see what happens with LIV over the next 12 months and there are plenty of huge and interesting tournaments as well; but the four majors are the ones that players and fans are most concerned about. In 2024 these take place as follows:
- US Masters at Augusta – 11th to 14th April
- USPGA Championship at Valhalla – 16th to 19th May
- US Open at Pinehurst – 13th to 16th June
- Open Championship at Royal Troon – 18th to 21st July
Snooker
Snooker has three huge events that make up the sport’s Triple Crown, the World Snooker Championship, the UK Championship, and the Masters. The Masters gets 2024 started from a snooker perspective, getting underway on the 7th of January, with the final scheduled to end on the 14th of January. The World Championship starts on the 20th of April and ends on the 6th of May, whilst the UK Championship, begins on the 25th of November, concluding on the 3rd of December.
- The Masters – 7th to 14th January
- World Snooker Championship – 20th April to 6th May
- UK Championships – 25th November to 3rd December
Cricket
Cricket will see a whole host of domestic, franchise and international matches in 2024 but one for the bucket list might just be the T20 World Cup. The men’s edition takes place in the West Indies and USA and runs from the 4th until the 30th of June. The women’s equivalent will be played in Bangladesh in September and October.
- T20 World Cup – 4th to 30th June
F1
The 2024 Formula 1 season gets underway on the 2nd of March, the first of a record 24 races being held in Bahrain. The final GP of the season will, as normal, be held in Abu Dhabi and is scheduled to take place on the 8th of December. Let’s hope the title race is a little more interesting than it was in 2023, or the season may effectively be over by October!
- Bahrain Grand Prix – 2nd Mar 2024
- Saudi Arabian Grand Prix – 9th Mar 2024
- Australian Grand Prix – 24th Mar 2024
- Japanese Grand Prix – 7th Apr 2024
- Chinese Grand Prix – 21st Apr 2024
- Miami Grand Prix – 5th May 2024
- Emilia Romagna Grand Prix – 19th May 2024
- Monaco Grand Prix – 26th May 2024
- Canadian Grand Prix – 9th Jun 2024
- Spanish Grand Prix – 23rd Jun 2024
- Austrian Grand Prix – 30th Jun 2024
- British Grand Prix – 7th Jul 2024
- Hungarian Grand Prix – 21st Jul 2024
- Belgian Grand Prix – 28th Jul 2024
- Dutch Grand Prix – 25th Aug 2024
- Italian Grand Prix – 1st Sep 2024
- Azerbaijan Grand Prix – 15th Sep 2024
- Singapore Grand Prix – 22nd Sep 2024
- United States Grand Prix – 20th Oct 2024
- Mexican Grand Prix – 27th Oct 2024
- Brazilian Grand Prix – 3rd Nov 2024
- Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – 8th Dec 2024