Taking place over more than four weeks in June and July 2016, the largest ever European Championships will last as long as a World Cup finals.
But, already, there is a worry that the level of competition will be seriously diluted by the increased numbers.
After all, 23 of the 53 UEFA members, excluding France, will be ultimately successful in their qualifying campaign - a whopping 43%.
Moreover, take away the eight lowest-ranked teams - serial no-hopers like Luxembourg and San Marino - and more than half of the entrants will make it through.
Even finishing third, with the best record among the third-placed teams, will be enough for automatic qualification alongside all of the group winners and runners-up.
The other eight third-placed teams, meanwhile, will get to enter a playoff for the last four places.
At the finals themselves, 36 group games will result in the elimination of just six teams - with four third-placed teams advancing into the Last 16.
Previously, the 16 finalists provided an easily divisible number - and UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino has conceded that the revised format is "not ideal".
However, UEFA president Michel Platini has long desired an expanded tournament - and the marketers and television companies were hardly going to disagree either.
And, while there is now seemingly no going back, the maxim that 'less is more' has certainly not been applied here.
It should not, perhaps, have come as much of a surprise. At club level, the UEFA Champions League principally acts to serve as a cartel for a select group of elite clubs.
Meanwhile, the Europa League is a prime example of UEFA inadequacy with a torturous group phase meaning a qualifier reaching the Final has to play 22 matches just to get there.
Of course, from the perspective of the head coaches of the Home Nations, the expanded tournament offers relief and opportunity.
There is relief for England's Roy Hodgson who will surely see his side come through Group E despite him starting to come under pressure for a poor World Cup. The Three Lions' first match - away to Switzerland on Monday - should easily be their toughest.
For Scotland coach Gordon Strachan, the 24-team Euros provide a golden opportunity to qualify for a major finals for the first time since century.
Last seen performing on the big stage at the World Cup in 1998, Scotland are unbeaten in their last six games - and really fancy their chances this time in one of the more interesting groups.
World champions Germany will no doubt top the section - but, behind them, the Scots will contest a three-way battle with Poland and Martin O'Neill's Republic of Ireland.
Debutants Gibraltar - kept apart from holders Spain in the draw - add another element of British interest in Group D, though not much can really be expected of a territory with a population of 30,000.
More will be expected of Wales this time, though. Having failed to qualify for any major tournament since 1958, the expanded Euros offer Chris Coleman's men a half-decent chance to put the record straight.
World Cup finalists Belgium and Bosnia-Herzegovina will be expected to take the top two spots - but the Welsh must surely look to get the better of Israel, Cyprus and Andorra for third.
A third-placed finish will also be the aim of Northern Ireland in a section likely to be dominated by Greece and a Romania team which seems to be back on the rise.
The matches against Hungary and Finland, and avoiding a slip-up against the Faroe Isles, will be the key factors in any Northern Irish presence en France.
And that brings me on to my final point - why France yet again? After all, it is hardly as if the French have waited ages since their last international tournament.
For the record, France has previously hosted the Euros in 1984 and World Cup 1998 in my lifetime - as well as World Cup 1938 and the Euros in 1960 long before I was born.
Ah mais oui, Monsieur Platini is a Frenchman and must look after his own.
And, before this gets cast aside as Anglo-centric paranoia, consider Platini's response to a journalist's question over why France was preferred to fellow-bidders Turkey.
"When there is a Turkish president, then you can host a major tournament," he smirked - although, if we are being selfish here, at least France is just a short hop across the Channel.
MATCHDAY ONE FIXTURES
07-Sep Group D, Group F, Group I
08-Sep Group C, Group E, Group G
09-Sep Group A, Group B, Group H
GROUP A Netherlands, Czech Republic, Turkey, Latvia, Iceland, Kazakhstan
| 09-Sep | 17:00 | Kazakhstan | 0-0 | Latvia | SkySports 5 |
| 09-Sep | 19:45 | Czech Republic | 2-1 | Netherlands | SkySports red button |
| 09-Sep | 19:45 | Iceland | 3-0 | Turkey | SkySports red button |
GROUP B Bosnia-Herzegovina, Belgium, Israel, Wales, Cyprus, Andorra
| 09-Sep | 19:45 | Andorra | 1-2 | Wales | SkySports 5 |
| 09-Sep | 19:45 | Bosnia-Herzegovina | 1-2 | Cyprus | SkySports red button |
| 09-Sep | 19:45 | Israel | P-P | Belgium | - |
GROUP C Spain, Ukraine, Slovakia, Belarus, FYR Macedonia, Luxembourg
| 08-Sep | 19:45 | Luxembourg | 1-1 | Belarus | SkySports red button |
| 08-Sep | 19:45 | Spain | 5-1 | FYR Macedonia | SkySports 5 |
| 08-Sep | 19:45 | Ukraine | 0-1 | Slovakia | SkySports red button |
GROUP D Germany, Republic of Ireland, Poland, Scotland, Georgia, Gibraltar
| 07-Sep | 17:00 | Georgia | 1-2 | Republic of Ireland | SkySports 5 |
| 07-Sep | 19:45 | Germany | 2-1 | Scotland | SkySports 5 |
| 07-Sep | 19:45 | Gibraltar | 0-7 | Poland | SkySports red button |
GROUP E England, Switzerland, Slovenia, Estonia, Lithuania, San Marino
| 08-Sep | 19:45 | Estonia | 1-0 | Slovenia | SkySports red button |
| 08-Sep | 19:45 | San Marino | 0-2 | Lithuania | SkySports red button |
| 08-Sep | 19:45 | Switzerland | 0-2 | England | ITV |
GROUP F Greece, Hungary, Romania, Finland, Northern Ireland, Faroe Islands
| 07-Sep | 17:00 | Hungary | 1-2 | Northern Ireland | SkySports 3 |
| 07-Sep | 19:45 | Faroe Islands | 1-3 | Finland | SkySports red button |
| 07-Sep | 19:45 | Greece | 0-1 | Romania | SkySports red button |
GROUP G Russia, Sweden, Austria, Montenegro, Moldova, Liechtenstein
| 08-Sep | 17:00 | Russia | 4-0 | Liechtenstein | SkySports 5 |
| 08-Sep | 19:45 | Austria | 1-1 | Sweden | SkySports 1 |
| 08-Sep | 19:45 | Montenegro | 2-0 | Moldova | SkySports red button |
GROUP H Italy, Croatia, Norway, Bulgaria, Azerbaijan, Malta
| 09-Sep | 17:00 | Azerbaijan | 1-2 | Bulgaria | SkySports red button |
| 09-Sep | 19:45 | Croatia | 2-0 | Malta | SkySports red button |
| 09-Sep | 19:45 | Norway | 0-2 | Italy | SkySports 1 |
GROUP I Portugal, Denmark, Serbia, Armenia, Albania, [France]
| 07-Sep | 17:00 | Denmark | 2-1 | Armenia | SkySports red button |
| 07-Sep | 19:45 | Portugal | 0-1 | Albania | SkySports 3 |
| 07-Sep | 19:45 | Serbia | 1-1 | France | - |
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