Euros Postcard from the Port of Hamburg as quarter-final line up is confirmed in shipping container format

Macdara Ferris reports from Hamburg

With no football till Friday as the quarter-final line up was confirmed after Türkiye’s win over Austria in Leipzig, on Wednesday morning I travelled the 400km or so north by train from Leipzig to Hamburg.

I’ll spend the next few days here in Hamburg where on Friday I’ll be reporting on the game to be played in the Volksparkstadion between Portugal/Ronaldo and France/Mbappe.

After that it will be back to Berlin to watch Türkiye again, as they take on the Netherlands in the Olympiastadion in what will be the final quarter-final tie.

If I couldn’t quite remember how the knockout stages unfolded, I took a trip down to the Port of Hamburg where those matches are all visible as part of a container art installation erected in the port. The pairings for knockout stage matches are painted on to shipping containers.

The knock out stages of #EURO2024 have been recreated as part of an art installation on shipping containers in the Port of Hamburg pic.twitter.com/xqUQthCuBJ

— Macdara Ferris (@macdarabueller) July 3, 2024

Made up of 28 shipping containers, the installation is 45m long and 10m high. During the knockout phase, the containers are painted every morning by Graffitiartist.de with the national flags of the previous evening’s winners.

They were busy on Wednesday morning before I arrived, with the Netherlands and Türkiye flags already brightly painted on to their quarter-final container.

This will be done after all the knockout matches until only two nations remain for the final on 14 July which will be held in Berlin’s Olympiastadion. 

The morning after the final, Hamburg will celebrate the new European champion by painting one final container featuring the flag of the winning nation on the container top centre. 

The installation at O’Swaldkai is located across the Norderelbe waterway from the stunning Elbphilharmonie. The concert hall, designed by architects Herzog & de Meuron, is constructed above an old brick warehouse. 

For just €3 you can take the funky curved escalator from the ground level up to the Plaza and from there the outdoor terrace gives great views of the city and the temporary EURO 2024 art installation.

Hit the Port of Hamburg sights earlier - €3 well spent to take the curved escalator up into the Elbphilharmonie. Herzog & de Meuron were the architect's for this concert hall built above an old brick warehouse. The Plaza outdoor terrace gives great views across the city. pic.twitter.com/fHyiVHYXZE

— Macdara Ferris (@macdarabueller) July 3, 2024