UEFA Euro 2024 gets underway on Friday in Munich with host nation Germany taking on Scotland at Fußball Arena München. Julian Nagelsmann has the home squad on an upward trajectory since taking over and his contract has already been extended to cover at least the FIFA 2026 World Cup cycle and the 36-year-old's group reflects that long-term thinking.
How the Germans handle their first competitive action since the 2022 World Cup will be interesting with 2023 a barren year for Die Mannschaft which cost Hansi Flick his job and opened the door to Nagelsmann. This will be Toni Kroos' swansong in soccer having already signed off at club level with Real Madrid's UEFA Champions League success at Wembley.
The Scottish will not be in Germany to simply make up the numbers, though, with Steve Clarke leading the Tartan Army to their second consecutive Euro after 2020's return to international competition. That ended in group stage elimination so the aim will be to avoid that but a solid Switzerland and relative wildcard in Hungary suggests that it could be tough.
Here are our storylines, how you can watch the match and more:
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How to watch and odds
- Date: Friday, June 14 | Time: 3 p.m. ET
- Location: Fußball Arena München -- Munich, Germany
- TV: FOX | Stream:Fubo (try for free)
- Odds: Germany -400; Draw +480; Scotland +1200
More Euro 2024 reading
- Standingsandschedule
- How to watch
- Squads
- Predicting every match
- Expert predictions
Get set for Euros with Golazo Network
- Can Germany start off strong?
- Group A preview
- Who will be the dark horse?
- Raph Honigstein talks German expectations
Group A
Joining Germany and Scotland in Group A will be Hungary and Switzerland which adds a geographical and cultural advantage given the links between three of these four nations. The Scottish are up against it but start off with their toughest game and will fancy themselves to build on a potentially positive result against the Germans when they take on the Swiss and the Hungarians. Expectations are slightly higher surrounding Nagelsmann's men now compared with before and home advantage helped the team massively back in 2006's semifinal run before defeat to eventual winners Italy after extra time which birthed a new era for German soccer.
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Team news
Germany: Nagelsmann's squad selection has raised a few eyebrows with Timo Werner, Serge Gnabry, Leon Goretzka, Julian Brandt, Emre Can and Mats Hummels all fairly high-profile absentees given previous squads. The big news was the return of Toni Kroos for his farewell to professional soccer while a handful of fairly untested players made the preliminary squad including VfB Stuttgart contingent Alexander Nubel, Waldemar Anton, Maximilian Mittelstadt, Chris Fuhrich and Deniz Undav as well as Bayern Munich's Aleksandar Pavlovic. Familiar faces like Manuel Neuer, Thomas Muller and Ilkay Gundogan are all present, though.
Possible Germany XI: Ter Stegen; Kimmich, Rudiger, Tah, Mittelstadt; Andrich, Kroos; Musiala, Gundogan (c), Wirtz; Havertz.
Scotland: Clarke does not have as many top tier talents to pick from as Nagelsmann but it is still a solid enough squad and the return of Andrew Robertson from injury is a big boost. Lyndon Dykes, Aaron Hickey and Elliot Anderson are all out injured while Nathan Patterson has also been overlooked. Key men will obviously be Robertson and Aston Villa captain John McGinn as well as Manchester United's Scott McTominay but only McGinn boasting double figures for goals suggests that the Scottish attack could have issues in front of goal in Germany.
Possible Scotland XI: Clark; Patterson, Hendry, McKenna, Robertson (c); McTominay, McGregor; Armstrong, McGinn, McLean; Brown.
Prediction
It might be tight at times but expect for the hosts to make a winning start and to possibly win by a couple of goals to build up some early momentum. Pick: Germany 2, Scotland 0.
