EURO2024 Group A Preview: What can fans expect?

EURO2024 will get underway in less than a week’s time, as Germany face Scotland in the opening match of this summer’s tournament on July 14. Ahead of kickoff in Munich, FromTheSpot takes a look at the four teams in Group A.

Germany

Julian Nagelsmann has turned German football around in the space of less than twelve months, and has his die Mannschaft side looking like serious contenders for silverware on home soil this summer.

Historically one of the world’s best national teams, Germany were in disarray when a 36-year-old Nagelsmann took the reins in September 2023. The upturn in results wasn’t immediate, and losses to Türkiye and Austria in November left fans fearing that die Mannschaft could suffer yet another embarrassing early exit from a major tournament.

Since the turn of the year, Germany are unbeaten and claimed wins against both France and the Netherlands in the March international window. Nagelsmann has found his winning formula: he now just needs to translate that into success at EURO2024.

Of course, the added pressure of being the host nation will come into play. While it’s far from being considered a Group of Death, Group A isn’t exactly the easiest and die Nationalelf will need to open the tournament in Munich with three points against Scotland.

They’ll then face Hungary in Stuttgart on June 19, before their Group A proceedings wrap up in Frankfurt with a testing clash against Switzerland on June 23 – and la Nati are certainly not a team to be underestimated.

The most recent of Germany’s three European Championship victories came in 1996. It’s a tournament that England fans will be in no mood to relive, with Gareth Southgate’s infamous penalty miss at Wembley allowing die Mannschaft a free pass to the final. Oliver Bierhoff scored the golden goal in the 95th minute after a 1-1 draw with the Czech Republic in regulation time.

Still, Germany have tasted success on the global stage more recently. A decade ago, under the guidance of the seemingly ever-present Joachim Löw, die Nationalelf navigated a tricky knockout path to prevail on Brazilian soil – beating France in the quarterfinals and demolishing the hosts in a 7-1 rout before edging past Argentina at the Maracanã to lay their hands on the trophy.

One key player remains from that tournament: Toni Kroos. This summer could prove to be the perfect farewell for the German midfielder, who announced his retirement just days before lifting yet another UEFA Champions League trophy with Real Madrid.

EURO2024 will present the 34-year-old with the chance for one last dance on home soil, and if recent matches are anything to go by, he could play a defining role in Germany’s success this summer.

Hungary

Hungary will be heading to EURO2024 under the guidance of their 59-year-old head coach, Marco Rossi. Having now spent six years in charge of the Magyarok, the Italian will strive to improve on a disappointing EURO2020 campaign that resulted in group stage elimination.

Things are looking promising for Hungary ahead of this summer’s tournament, after they beat Serbia twice and went unbeaten to claim the top spot in their qualifying group. They’ve been handed a tricky group in Germany though, and progression is all but guaranteed.

Opening their campaign in Köln on June 15 against Switzerland, the Magyarok will then face the tournament hosts in Stuttgart four days later, where they’ll also wrap up their group stage campaign against Scotland on June 23.

Hungary’s resurgence in recent years has brought to an end an absence from major tournaments that spanned more than thirty years. Officially, their best-ever tournament finish came at the 1972 European Championships – but while a fourth-placed finish looks impressive at first glance, only four teams were competing and they lost both of their fixtures.

If Hungary are to escape from a tricky Group A this summer, they’ll likely be relying on Dominik Szoboszlai. At just 23 years of age, the Liverpool midfielder has already been handed the captain’s armband for his national team and his respectable goals-per-game ratio could prove vital this summer.

Scotland

Since taking the reins in 2019, Steve Clarke has breathed new life into Scottish football. Having spent the majority of his playing career with Chelsea, the 60-year-old ended the Tartan Army’s 23-year-wait for major tournament action by qualifying for EURO2020 – and now, Scotland are back again.

Their qualification campaign stole the headlines: Scott McTominay found fine goalscoring form, netting four times in Scotland’s opening two matches – including both goals in a 2-0 win over Spain at Hampden Park. They edged past Erling Haaland’s Norway, stunned a buoyant Georgia side and rolled past Cyprus to claim second-place in Group A.

While the only defeat of their qualification campaign came in their second meeting with Spain, that first victory over la Roja will hand the Tartan Army the confidence that they can overcome some of Europe’s biggest names. They’ll kickstart their EURO2024 journey in Munich on the opening day, before a trip to Köln sees them face Switzerland five days later. It all wraps up in Stuttgart on June 23, with the Hungarians as the opponent on that occasion.

It’s hard to ascertain what the expectations are for this Scotland side. They’ve never escaped the group stages of a major tournament before, winning just six of their 32 matches since they first appeared at the FIFA World Cup in 1954. Given the injuries that have already ravaged the squad, picking up a win or two would likely be considered a respectable result in Germany this summer.

While Scott McTominay was the standout player during Scotland’s qualification campaign, it’s Andy Robertson that will truly impact the Tartan Army’s hopes of a first-ever appearance in the knockout stages. An indomitable force on the left of the defence for Liverpool, his sheer determination alone will be invaluable for Steve Clarke this summer.

Switzerland

Capped 49 times for Switzerland as a player, Murat Yakin will take to the dugouts as la Nati look to take EURO2024 by storm. It is just his second tournament in charge, and follows a respectable 2022 FIFA World Cup campaign that saw them finish level on points with Brazil in Group G before suffering a 6-1 demolition at the hands of Portugal.

Switzerland strolled to a second-place finish in their qualification group, suffering just one defeat that came in the form of a 1-0 loss to Romania on the final day. Perhaps concerningly, la Nati were forced to settle for a draw in half of their ten qualifying fixtures – and stalemates just won’t cut it in the tournament proper.

Yakin’s men will open their EURO2024 campaign in Köln on June 15 against Hungary, with that match coming as arguably the easiest of their three group stage fixtures. They’ll face Scotland on the very same turf four days later, before concluding their group stage journey in Frankfurt on June 23 when they face the tournament hosts.

EURO2024 comes as Switzerland’s sixth appearance at the European Championships since they debuted in 1996, and they’ve progressed to the knockout stages in both 2016 and 2020. That seems to be the expectation for la Nati again – after all, it was a penalty shootout against Spain that prevented them from reaching the final four last time out.

Granit Xhaka is the player to watch in this Switzerland side, after the midfielder reinvigorated his career by moving to Bayer Leverkusen. The 31-year-old suffered just one defeat across all competitions with die Werkself in 2023/24 – and his mentality may just set the Swiss apart from some of their Group A rivals.