Soulless England frustrate as Scotland fail again

🟥 EURO 2024 GROUP STAGE 🟥

■ GROUP A	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
(Q) GERMANY	2	1	0	8	2	+6	7
(Q) SWITZERLAND	1	2	0	5	3	+2	5
HUNGARY	1	0	2	2	5	-3	3
SCOTLAND	0	1	2	2	7	-5	1

14-June	20:00	GERMANY	5-1	SCOTLAND	Munich
ITV		Wirtz 10, Musiala 19 Havertz 45+1pen Fullkrug 68, Can 90+3		Rudiger 87og
15-June	14:00	HUNGARY	1-3	SWITZERLAND	Cologne
ITV		Varga 66		Duah 12, Aebischer 45 Embolo 90+3
19-June	17:00	GERMANY	2-0	HUNGARY	Stuttgart
BBC		Musiala 22, Gundogan 67
19-June	20:00	SCOTLAND	1-1	SWITZERLAND	Cologne
BBC		McTominay 13		Shaqiri 26
23-June	20:00	SWITZERLAND	1-1	GERMANY	Frankfurt
BBC		Ndoye 29		Fullkrug 90+2
23-June	20:00	SCOTLAND	0-1	HUNGARY	Stuttgart
BBC				Csoboth 90+10

Scotland failed to get out of the group at a major tournament for a record-extending 12th time after a last-gasp defeat to Hungary consigned Steve Clarke's men to yet another bottom-placed finish in Group A. 

Germany, as expected, topped the section - though only after Niclas Fullkrug scored a late goal to equalise against Switzerland - and it was the Germans, of course, who started off this latest Scottish nightmare.

Julian Nagelsmann's Mannschaft were 2-0 up inside 20 minutes and 3-0 up at half time on their way to a 5-1 hammering of the Scots on the opening night of the tournament as Ryan Porteous received a red card for a nasty foul on Ilkay Gundogan.

Scotland consoled themselves that they could not have faced a tougher start against the revved-up hosts - but their failure to get anywhere near Germany at any point during the game was a definite cause for concern.

The Germans even seemed to take pity on their opponents as a late Antonio Rudiger own goal put the Scots on the scoresheet - and own goals, along with timidity from the two British teams, have been notable themes of Euro 2024 so far.

At least Scotland started better in their second match against Switzerland - and their early pressure was rewarded when Scott McTominay smashed a shot from the edge of the box into the net off Fabian Schar.

It could have easily gone down as another own goal - but the original effort was deemed to have been on target so the Manchester United midfielder was credited.

Nevertheless, the Swiss rarely roll over nowadays and the Nati were back level before the break through a cracking strike by Xherdan Shaqiri following a terribly loose back-pass by Scotland right-back Anthony Ralston.

Both teams had chances late on to take the three points as Grant Hanley headed against the post from a McTominay free-kick - but a draw was probably a fair result.

In the meantime, Germany eased their way past Hungary to reach the Last 16 with a game to spare with a straightforward 2-0 win in Stuttgart which left the Magyars without a point.

That was enough for Scotland to feel confident heading into the third group game against the Hungarians of breaching the first phase of a major tournament for the first time in history.

But, despite dominating the ball, Scotland failed to get a single shot on target - and their lack of ambition seemed to stem throughout the competition from the coaching staff.

Head coach Clarke declared beforehand that he would be happy to scrape through with four points - and, while it obviously meant Clarke could not be accused of delusion, it hardly reeked of Braveheart and arguably belied a lack of confidence in the ability of his squad.

Of course, there was the usual dose of bad luck as neither Argentine referee Fernando Rapallini or the video assistant referee (VAR) determined Stuart Armstrong had not been fouled even though the replays suggested otherwise.

Then, as the clock ticked into stoppage time, the Scots' biggest chance fell to centre-back Hanley - before, moments later, a neat passing move on the break from the clearance of a Scotland corner reached its crescendo when Kevin Csoboth struck the ball past goalkeeper Angus Gunn.

In that moment, any remaining Scottish hopes were shattered. However, the fact is that Scotland had just 17 shots in the Euro 2024 finals overall, with no team having had fewer efforts in a group stage since groups were introduced at Euro 1980.

Now, frustratingly for the long-suffering Tartan Army, this was nothing new - in 21 matches in World Cup and European Championship finals since 1986, the Scots have won just three, and the last of those came back in 1996.

Moreover, in that time, Scotland have scored a pitiful 12 goals in total. So much indeed for Scotland the Brave...

■ GROUP B	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
(Q) SPAIN	3	0	0	5	0	+5	9
(Q) ITALY	1	1	1	3	3	0	4
CROATIA	0	2	1	3	6	-3	2
ALBANIA	0	1	2	3	5	-2	1

15-June	17:00	SPAIN	3-0	CROATIA	Berlin
ITV		Morata 29, Fabian Ruiz 32 Carvajal 45+2
15-June	20:00	ITALY	2-1	ALBANIA	Dortmund
BBC		Bastoni 11, Barella 16		Bajrami 1
19-June	14:00	CROATIA	2-2	ALBANIA	Hamburg
ITV		Kramaric 74, Gjasula 76og		Laci 11, Gjasula 90+5
20-June	20:00	SPAIN	1-0	ITALY	Gelsenkirchen
ITV		Calafiori 55og
24-June	20:00	ALBANIA	0-1	SPAIN	Dusseldorf
BBC				Ferran Torres 13
24-June	20:00	CROATIA	1-1	ITALY	Leipzig
BBC		Modric 55		Zaccagni 90+8

Spain made light work of Group B as the only team in the competition to take maximum points by progressing with an unbreached defence against Croatia (3-0), Italy (1-0) and Albania (1-0). 

La Roja enjoyed an ideal start to their campaign, leading 3-0 against the Croatians at half time - before following it up with a far narrower success against the Italians in a tight affair settled by an unfortunate own goal off the knee of Riccardo Calafiori.

That was enough to seal top spot for Luis de la Fuente's side with a game to spare - and the head coach indulged in this freedom by making 10 changes to his starting line-up.

Ferran Torres hit an early goal to justify the shaken-up selection - but the Barcelona forward then missed a hatful of chances as Albania noticeably struggled for the first time in the tournament.

Until that point, the Red and Blacks had competed well - and, in fact, Nedim Bajrami now holds the record for the fastest goal in European Championship finals history.

Timed at 23 seconds, Bajrami intercepted a loose throw-in by Federico Dimarco before slamming a shot past the stunned Gianluigi Donnarumma.

However, the Albanians had a major weakness - they gave up a lead then fell behind in double-quick time against Italy and did exactly the same against Croatia.

At least in a chaotic encounter against Hrvatska, Albania were able to pick up only their fourth point in major tournament football as Klaus Gjasula kept his cool for a stoppage-time equaliser.

It was a case of redemption for Gjasula who had inadvertently scored in his own net less than 20 minutes earlier.

Nevertheless, Croatia v Italy always looked like the key tie in this section - and so it proved, although the first half was almost completely devoid of action.

Croatia - aware that a draw would be no good - showed their hand first and, following a series of attacks, the Azzurri eventually cracked as a clear handball by Davide Frattesi resulted in a penalty.

Up stepped 38-year-old Luka Modric - but Donnarumma made a fine save to his left and then made an even better stop from Ante Budimir in the very next attack.

Modric snaffled the rebound, however, to round off a crazy 33 seconds of football - and Croatia remained in control with the lead.

By contrast, Italy had to make-do with fleeting attacks and were not helped by the poverty of their set-plays - although, towards the end of the match, Alessandro Bastoni really should have done better with his header from a corner.

No matter. Winners always find a way - and, while Croatia maintained their remarkable all-time unbeaten record against Italy, Mattia Zaccagni's curling shot in the eighth minute of stoppage time ensured this one would be a draw.

It was virtually the last kick of the game - and a draw really was no good for Croatia.

Modric, standing helplessly on the sidelines having been substituted, cut a dejected figure as the final curtain fell on this special Croatian generation.

Holders Italy, though, march on - and, while Luciano Spalletti's charges have been far from convincing in any of their first three games, they will start their Last 16 tie against Switzerland as favourites.

■ GROUP C	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
(Q) ENGLAND	1	2	0	2	1	+1	5
(Q) DENMARK	0	3	0	2	2	0	3
(Q) SLOVENIA	0	3	0	2	2	0	3
SERBIA	0	2	1	1	2	-1	2

16-June	17:00	SLOVENIA	1-1	DENMARK	Stuttgart
ITV		Janza 77		Eriksen 17
16-June	20:00	SERBIA	0-1	ENGLAND	Gelsenkirchen
BBC				Bellingham 13
20-June	14:00	SLOVENIA	1-1	SERBIA	Munich
ITV		Karnicnik 69		Jovic 90+6
20-June	17:00	DENMARK	1-1	ENGLAND	Frankfurt
BBC		Hjulmand 34		Kane 18
25-June	20:00	ENGLAND	0-0	SLOVENIA	Cologne
ITV
25-June	20:00	DENMARK	0-0	SERBIA	Munich
ITV

England prevailed at the top of possibly the worst group ever played out at a major tournament with five of the six matches finishing as dull draws. 

In fairness, the Three Lions were the only team actually to win a match in a truly desperate section which featured three 1-1 results, two 0-0 stalemates, and only seven goals overall.

Jude Bellingham gave Gareth Southgate's men an ideal start to the campaign against Serbia, heading in a deflected cross from Bukayo Saka after just 13 minutes.

England quickly fashioned another chance down the right as Kyle Walker sent a teasing ball across the six-yard box - but, until Harry Kane clipped the bar with a late header, a much-vaunted attack showed little in the way of threat.

It was felt perhaps that England were just feeling their way into the competition - and any major criticism of the Three Lions was tempered by the three points on the board.

In the second match against Denmark, England took another relatively early lead as Kane stabbed home from close range following a couple of deflections on Walker's pull-back.

But the Danes are an all-round better team than Serbia and, by half time, were back level after Morten Hjulmand struck a long-range effort.

The results in the other matches - Slovenia v Denmark and Slovenia v Serbia, both 1-1 draws - made it possible for England to win Group C with a match to spare with a second victory.

If that was the ambition, though, the Three Lions showed little sign of fulfilling it, especially after the equaliser.

Remarkably, it was the 14th time in matches at major tournaments held since 2000 that England had taken the lead yet failed to win the match with most of the giveaways down to the adoption of the ultra-cautious approach bizarrely favoured by Southgate.

Ahead of the third match against Slovenia, results in other groups ensured England had qualified for the Last 16 - but the identity of the group winners remained unclear.

The runners-up knew they would face hosts Germany in the first knockout round, though, so there was still theoretically some level of pressure.

In practice, England infuriatingly produced yet more of the same slow, safety first football which has come to epitomise their campaign.

The balance of the team remained poor with Kieran Trippier and Phil Foden looking particularly uncomfortable down the left - although at least the experiment of playing Trent Alexander-Arnold in midfield was thankfully ditched.

Still, though, there was no room in the starting line-up for either Cole Palmer or Anthony Gordon despite both players boasting double figures for both goals and assists in the 2023-24 Premier League season.

Palmer was eventually introduced in the 71st minute - while Gordon ridiculously kicked his heels until 88 minutes were on the clock.

Gordon, indeed, has spent many more minutes at Euro 2024 responding to questions from the media in interviews and press conferences than he has actually playing football.

Nevertheless, both made a positive impression against the Slovenians with a raking pass by Gordon finding fellow substitute Kobbie Mainoo whose flick to Kane set up Palmer in one of the very few moments of excitement across the 90 minutes.

All that was needed was a stoppage time Denmark winner in Munich to consign England to second place and a meeting with the Germans.

But the fact that it did not come - and the fact that Denmark and Slovenia were able to make it through without winning any of their games - rather summed up Group C quite neatly.

■ GROUP D	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
(Q) AUSTRIA	2	0	1	5	4	+1	6
(Q) FRANCE	1	2	0	2	1	+1	5
(Q) NETHERLANDS	1	1	1	4	4	0	4
POLAND	0	1	2	3	5	-2	1

16-June	14:00	POLAND	1-2	NETHERLANDS	Hamburg
BBC		Buksa 16		Gakpo 29, Weghorst 83
17-June	20:00	AUSTRIA	0-1	FRANCE	Dusseldorf
ITV				Wober 38og
21-June	17:00	POLAND	1-3	AUSTRIA	Berlin
ITV		Piatek 30		Trauner 9, Baumgartner 66 Arnautovic 78pen
21-June	20:00	NETHERLANDS	0-0	FRANCE	Leipzig
BBC
25-June	17:00	NETHERLANDS	2-3	AUSTRIA	Berlin
BBC		Gakpo 47, Depay 75		Malen 6og, Schmid 59 Sabitzer 80
25-June	17:00	FRANCE	1-1	POLAND	Dortmund
BBC		Mbappe 56pen		Lewandowski 79pen

Austria caused a huge shock in Group D after beating Netherlands to finish ahead of France and the Dutch at the top of the section. 

Coming into the third set of group games, there appeared to be little scope for drama with Netherlands and France already through, and Poland already eliminated.

Meanwhile, the Austrians merely had to get a point or, at worst, ensure their goal difference did not suffer too much damage.

Straightaway, though, Ralf Rangnick's men showed greater ambition than that - picking up where they left off in their fine 3-1 win against Poland by taking an early lead as Donyell Malen slid the ball past his own goalkeeper.

Ronald Koeman's Netherlands hit back immediately after half time as a quick break concluded with Cody Gakpo curling in his second goal of the tournament.

But Austria were not disturbed out of their rhythm by the equaliser - and, just as Kylian Mbappe was putting France in front against Poland in the other game in Dortmund, Romano Schmid restored the Austrian lead in Berlin with a diving header.

The Dutch - who had started the day top on goals scored from France - dropped to third place, but then briefly went back top as Memphis Depay found a second equaliser and, concurrently, Robert Lewandowski was levelling for Poland against the French.

It was all too brief for the Oranje though, as Marcel Sabitzer finished a lovely passing move to send Austria in front for a third time and back to the top of the group with the Dutch demoted back to third again.

France - aware that, by scoring, the Dutch would need two goals to topple them - tried in vain to get a winner, as Poland completed another underwhelming campaign having at least avoided losing all three group games for the first time ever. 

Les Bleus - while never in danger of falling to progress - have also disappointed and head into the knockout stages via an own goal and an Mbappe penalty.

By contrast, an enterprising Austrian outfit found the net six times in their last two matches. 

Now, the impact of the unexpected finishing order in Group D was immediately apparent with France taking on Belgium in the Last 16 and unexpectedly falling into the side of the knockout stage bracket which also features Germany, Spain and Portugal.

Netherlands will face Romania in the Last 16 - while Austria will look to continue their excellent form against Turkey.

■ GROUP E	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
(Q) ROMANIA	1	1	1	4	3	+1	4
(Q) BELGIUM	1	1	1	2	1	+1	4
(Q) SLOVAKIA	1	1	1	3	3	0	4
UKRAINE	1	1	1	2	4	-2	4

17-June	14:00	ROMANIA	3-0	UKRAINE	Munich
BBC		Stanciu 29, R Marin 53 Dragus 57
17-June	17:00	BELGIUM	0-1	SLOVAKIA	Frankfurt
ITV				Schranz 7
21-June	14:00	SLOVAKIA	1-2	UKRAINE	Dusseldorf
BBC		Schranz 17		Shaparenko 54, Yaremchuk 80
22-June	20:00	BELGIUM	2-0	ROMANIA	Cologne
ITV		Tielemans 2, De Bruyne 80
26-June	17:00	SLOVAKIA	1-1	ROMANIA	Frankfurt
BBC		Duda 24		R Marin 37pen
26-June	17:00	UKRAINE	0-0	BELGIUM	Stuttgart
BBC

None of the four teams in Group E could be easily separated as Romania, Belgium, Slovakia and Ukraine all finished on four points. 

Ultimately though, Ukraine lost out on goal difference following their heavy defeat to Romania in the first round of group games.

The Romanians won their first match at a major tournament since Phil Neville injudiciously brought down Viorel Moldovan and Ionel Ganea dispatched the resultant penalty as goals from Razvan Marin, Nicolae Stanciu and Denis Dragus earned a stylish victory.

On the same afternoon, there was something of a shock as Newcastle United goalkeeper Martin Dubravka kept a clean sheet despite a typically nervy performance.

Better still for the Slovakians, an early goal by Ivan Schranz gave them a wholly unexpected three points, albeit against an unsurprisingly underwhelming Belgium outfit.

Schranz scored again against Ukraine in the second round of group games - but, facing an early elimination, Serhiy Rebrov's men fought their way back through goals by Mykola Shaparenko and Roman Yaremchuk.

Yaremchuk's effort was outstanding as he took the ball down over his shoulder to finish, although he was helped by uncertain goalkeeping from Dubravka.

Meanwhile, Belgium recovered their form with goals from Youri Tielemans and Kevin De Bruyne at the start and end of the match enough to bring Romania back down to earth.

Those results left all four teams on three points with one win and one loss - and really should have set up a classic third round of matches.

Instead, the afternoon turned into something of a damp squib with both matches finishing in draws.

Slovakia and Romania traded first half goals through Ondrej Duda and Marin respectively - but thereafter seemed satisfied with the 1-1 score which guaranteed both teams went through.

And so, it was left to Ukraine to try to provide any drama - a win would have sent the Ukrainians through at the expense of the Belgians.

But a breakthrough by the Blue and Yellow never looked too likely - Belgium had the better chances - as yet another promising set of circumstances dissipated into a non-event.

Consequently Romania retained top spot while Belgium's less than serene progress has landed them a tie against tournament favourites France.

■ GROUP F	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
(Q) PORTUGAL	2	0	1	5	3	+2	6
(Q) TURKEY	2	0	1	5	5	0	6
(Q) GEORGIA	1	1	1	4	4	0	4
CZECH REPUBLIC	0	1	2	3	5	-2	1

18-June	17:00	TURKEY	3-1	GEORGIA	Dortmund
BBC		Muldur 25, Guler 65 Akturkoglu 90+7		Mikautadze 32
18-June	20:00	PORTUGAL	2-1	CZECH REPUBLIC	Leipzig
BBC		Hranac 69og, Conceicao 90+2		Provod 62
22-June	14:00	GEORGIA	1-1	CZECH REPUBLIC	Hamburg
BBC		Mikautadze 45+4pen		Schick 59
22-June	17:00	TURKEY	0-3	PORTUGAL	Dortmund
ITV				Bernardo Silva 21, Akaydin 28og Bruno Fernandes 55
26-June	20:00	GEORGIA	2-0	PORTUGAL	Gelsenkirchen
ITV		Kvaratskhelia 2 Mikautadze 57pen
26-June	20:00	CZECH REPUBLIC	1-2	TURKEY	Hamburg
ITV		Soucek 66		Calhanoglu 51, Tosun 90+4

Georgia will continue their wondrous adventure at Euro 2024 on their major tournament debut after sealing a landmark win over 2016 winners Portugal in Group F. 

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia put the Crusaders ahead inside two minutes with a good low finish before, in the second half, Luka Lochoshvili had his tapped ankle tapped by Antonio Silva, and was awarded a penalty.

Metz striker Georges Mikautadze made no mistake from the spot to become the first, and so far only, player to hit three goals in the group stages.

Valencia goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili was the Georgians' other big star and he protected the lead with an important save from Cristiano Ronaldo.

Overall, though, Georgia must be commended most of all for their team spirit which has been clear from the start of the competition.

Defeat against Turkey in their first game was tough take for Willy Sagnol's men given that they were right in the game at 2-1 down and pushing for an equaliser.

But, having brought Mamardashvili up for a corner deep in stoppage time, a rapid Turkish break concluded with Kerem Akturkoglu rolling the ball into an empty net for 3-1.

It was a great start for Turkey but the Crescent Stars were unable to build on it in their second match against Portugal who moved into a higher gear in an extremely comfortable 3-0 win which could have been at least a couple more.

Of course, Roberto Martinez's men were helped along the way by an embarrassing own goal by Samet Akaydin after he blindly rolled a backpass into his own net having failed to check the position of his goalkeeper Altay Bayindir.

The heavy defeat left Turkey vulnerable to being caught by Czech Republic - but another late Turkish goal on the break through former Everton and Crystal Palace striker Cenk Tosun meant it was the Czechs who bowed out early.

Ivan Hasek's Czechs finished with an extremely disappointing record of one point from nine - not that the Czechs could have really done much more to help themselves in that third game.

Reduced to 10 men after referee Istvan Kovacs made a rod for his back by booking Antonin Barak twice for a couple of fairly innocuous early fouls, large portions of the match denigrated into a nonsense.

Indeed, it finished in utter farce as the Romanian man in the middle ended up brandashing a European Championship record of 19 cards.

No doubt the Czechs will console themselves that the referee was a disaster and this may be merely a tough start for a squad with the youngest average in the tournament.

There is no place for them in the Last 16, though - and nor should there be for Kovacs. 

■ THIRD-PLACED TEAMS	Group	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
(Q) NETHERLANDS	[D]	1	1	1	4	4	0	4
(Q) GEORGIA	[F]	1	1	1	4	4	0	4
(Q) SLOVAKIA	[E]	1	1	1	3	3	0	4
(Q) SLOVENIA	[C]	0	3	0	2	2	0	3
HUNGARY	[A]	1	0	2	2	5	-3	3
CROATIA	[B]	0	2	1	3	6	-3	2

■ GOALSCORERS 81 goals in 36 matches (2.25 goals per game)
3 Georges Mikautadze (Georgia)
2 Jamal Musiala (Germany), Ivan Schranz (Slovakia), Niclas Fullkrug (Germany), Cody Gakpo (Netherlands), Razvan Marin (Romania)
1 Florian Wirtz (Germany), Kai Havertz (Germany), Emre Can (Germany), Kwadwo Duah (Switzerland), Michel Aebischer (Switzerland), Barnabas Varga (Hungary), Breel Embolo (Switzerland), Alvaro Morata (Spain), Fabian Ruiz (Spain), Dani Carvajal (Spain), Nedim Bajrami (Albania), Alessandro Bastani (Italy), Nicolo Barella (Italy), Adam Buksa (Poland), Wout Weghorst (Netherlands), Christian Eriksen (Denmark), Erik Janza (Slovenia), Jude Bellingham (England), Nicolae Stanciu (Romania), Denis Dragus (Romania), Mert Muldur (Turkey), Arda Guler (Turkey), Kerem Akturkoglu (Turkey), Lukas Provod (Czech Republic), Francisco Conceicao (Portugal), Qazim Laci (Albania), Andrej Kramaric (Croatia), Klaus Gjasula (Albania), Ilkay Gundogan (Germany), Scott McTominay (Scotland), Xherdan Shaqiri (Switzerland), Zan Karnicnik (Slovenia), Luka Jovic (Serbia), Harry Kane (England), Morten Hjulmand (Denmark), Mykola Shaparenko (Ukraine), Roman Yaremchuk (Ukraine), Gernot Trauner (Austria), Krzysztof Piatek (Poland), Christoph Baumgartner (Austria), Marko Arnautovic (Austria), Patrik Schick (Czech Republic), Bernardo Silva (Portugal), Bruno Fernandes (Portugal), Youri Tielemans (Belgium), Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium), Dan Ndoye (Switzerland), Kevin Csoboth (Hungary), Ferran Torres (Spain), Luka Modric (Croatia), Mattia Zaccagni (Italy), Kylian Mbappe (France), Romano Schmid (Austria), Memphis Depay (Netherlands), Robert Lewandowski (Poland), Marcel Sabitzer (Austria), Ondrej Duda (Slovakia), Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Georgia), Hakan Calhanoglu (Turkey), Tomas Soucek (Czech Republic), Cenk Tosun (Turkey)
7 own goals Antonio Rudiger (Germany) for Scotland, Maximilian Wober (Austria) for France, Robin Hranac (Czech Republic) for Portugal, Klaus Gjasula (Albania) for Croatia, Riccardo Calafiori (Italy) for Spain, Samet Akaydin (Turkey) for Portugal, Donyell Malen (Netherlands) for Austria

■ RED CARDS
Ryan Porteous (Scotland) v Germany
Antonin Barak (Czech Republic) v Turkey
Tomas Chory (Czech Republic) v Turkey

Euro 2024 Preview: Release the shackles

🟥 GROUP A 🟥

14-June	(8pm)	GERMANY v SCOTLAND	Munich  ITV
15-June	(2pm)	HUNGARY v SWITZERLAND	Cologne  ITV
19-June	(5pm)	GERMANY v HUNGARY	Stuttgart  BBC
19-June	(8pm)	SCOTLAND v SWITZERLAND	Cologne  BBC
23-June	(8pm)	SWITZERLAND v GERMANY	Frankfurt  BBC
23-June	(8pm)	SCOTLAND v HUNGARY	Stuttgart  BBC

GERMANY • FIFA ranking 16

Head coach Julian Nagelsmann (since September 2023)  

Qualification Host nation

Warm-up matches D0-0 v Ukraine, W2-1 v Greece

Best performance Winners 1972, 1980, 1996
Squad

Goalkeepers Oliver Baumann (Hoffenheim), Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Barcelona)

Defenders Waldemar Anton (Stuttgart), Benjamin Henrichs (RB Leipzig), Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich), Robin Koch (Eintracht Frankfurt), Maximilian Mittelstadt (Stuttgart), David Raum (RB Leipzig), Antonio Rudiger (Real Madrid), Nico Schlotterbeck (Borussia Dortmund), Jonathan Tah (Bayer Leverkusen)

Midfielders Robert Andrich (Bayer Leverkusen), Chris Fuhrich (Stuttgart), Pascal Gross (Brighton and Hove Albion), Ilkay Gundogan (Barcelona), Toni Kroos (Real Madrid), Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich), Aleksandar Pavlovic (Bayern Munich), Leroy Sane (Bayern Munich), Florian Wirtz (Bayer Leverkusen)

Forwards Maximilian Beier (Hoffenheim), Niclas Fullkrug (Borussia Dortmund), Kai Havertz (Arsenal), Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich), Deniz Undav (Stuttgart)

Willkommen! Germany host the European Championship finals for the first time as a unified country - although the current team enter it with much to prove after a succession of major tournament failures. Group stage exits at the World Cup finals in 2018 and 2022 sandwiched a Last 16 defeat to England at Euro 2020+1 so, remarkably, it is now eight years since Die Mannschaft last won a knockout match. Surely, with home advantage this time, that will change in the next few weeks - and head coach Julian Nagelsmann has improved results and confidence since his arrival last September following the troubled tenure of Hansi Flick. Aged 36, Nagelsmann is only a little bit older than squad mainstays Ilkay Gundogan, Toni Kroos and Thomas Muller - and actually younger than veteran goalkeeper Manuel Neuer. But, with players from the following generation such as Kai Havertz and Leroy Sane rather flattering to deceive, there is a lot of pressure already on youngsters Florian Wirtz and Jamal Musiala.
Prediction Semi finals

SCOTLAND • FIFA ranking 39

Head coach Steve Clarke (since May 2019)

Qualification Group A runners-up (W5 D2 L1 F17 A8 Pts 17)

Warm-up matches W2-0 v Gibraltar, D2-2 v Finland

Best performance Group stage 1992, 1996, 2020+1

Squad

Goalkeepers Zander Clark (Heart of Midlothian), Angus Gunn (Norwich City), Liam Kelly (Motherwell)

Defenders Liam Cooper (Leeds United), Grant Hanley (Norwich City), Jack Hendry (Al-Ettifaq), Ross McCrorie (Bristol City), Scott McKenna (Nottingham Forest), Ryan Porteous (Watford), Anthony Ralston (Celtic), Andy Robertson (Liverpool), Greg Taylor (Celtic), Kieran Tierney (Arsenal)

Midfielders Stuart Armstrong (Southampton), Ryan Christie (Bournemouth), Billy Gilmour (Brighton), Ryan Jack (unattached), John McGinn (Aston Villa), Callum McGregor (Celtic), Kenny McLean (Norwich City), Scott McTominay (Manchester United)

Forwards Che Adams (Southampton), Tommy Conway (Bristol City), James Forrest (Celtic), Lawrence Shankland (Heart of Midlothian), Lewis Morgan (New York Red Bulls)

Bullish Scotland arrive at Euro 2024 determined to make history by becoming the first of their teams to progress to the knockout stages of a major tournament. For once, the Scots made light work of qualifying, taking maximum points from their first four games, including a momentous 2-0 win over Spain at Hampden Park, to leave plenty of room for error. Steve Clarke's men needed it, being overtaken by the Spanish and gaining only five points from the second set of four matches - and there was a further sense of a loss of momentum following a 4-0 defeat to Netherlands and a poor loss at home to Northern Ireland. At the same time, while there is little expectation of a result in the opening game of the tournament against Germany, this feels very much like a squad akin in overall ability to Euro 1996 when Scotland beat Switzerland in the last set of group games to finish in third place on four points. Back then, only the top two teams progressed - but, as wily head coach Clarke has observed, a repeat outcome would be good enough this time when the Scots and the Swiss face each other again in their respective third group match.

Prediction Last 16

HUNGARY • FIFA ranking 26

Head coach Marco Rossi (since June 2018)

Qualification Group G winners (W5 D3 L0 F16 A7 Pts 18)

Warm-up matches L1-2 v Ireland, W3-0 v Israel

Best performance Semi finals 1964
Squad

Goalkeepers Denes Dibusz (Ferencvaros), Peter Gulacsi (RB Leipzig), Peter Szappanos (Paks)

Defenders Botond Balogh (Parma), Endre Botka (Ferencvaros), Marton Dardai (Hertha BSC), Attila Fiola (Fehervar), Adam Lang (Omonia Nicosia), Willi Orban (RB Leipzig), Attila Szalai (Freiburg)

Midfielders Bendeguz Bolla (Servette), Mihaly Kata (MTK), Milos Kerkez (Bournemouth), Laszlo Kleinheisler (Hajduk Split), Adam Nagy (Spezia Calcio), Zsolt Nagy (Puskas Akademia), Loic Nego (Le Havre), Andras Schafer (Union Berlin), Callum Styles (Sunderland)

Forwards Martin Adam (Ulsan Hyundai), Kevin Csoboth (Ujpest), Daniel Gazdag (Philadelphia Union), Krisztofer Horvath (Kecskemet), Roland Sallai (Freiburg), Dominik Szoboszlai (Liverpool), Barnabas Varga (Ferencvaros)
This is the most talented Hungary side since the Mighty Magyars of the 1950s which lost just one game between June 1950 and February 1956 - sadly, for that team, that game was the 1954 World Cup Final. Now, much of the current play runs through Liverpool midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai - a dead-ball specialist and, at the age of 23, the youngest of the 24 captains at Euro 2024. Szoboszlai missed out on Euro 2020+1 through injury so will be especially eager to make up for lost time. Nevertheless, Italian head coach Marco Rossi can also count on useful contributions from Peter Gulacsi of Red Bull Leipzig between the sticks and fellow Bundesliga talent, forward Roland Sallai of Freiburg.
Prediction Last 16

SWITZERLAND • FIFA ranking 19

Head coach Murat Yakin (since August 2021)

Qualification Group D runners-up (W4 D5 L1 F22 A11 Pts 17)

Warm-up matches W4-0 v Estonia, D1-1 v Austria

Best performance Quarter finals 2020+1

Squad

Goalkeepers Yann Sommer (Inter Milan), Yvon Mvogo (Lorient), Gregor Kobel (Borussia Dortmund)

Defenders Ricardo Rodriguez (Torino), Fabian Schar (Newcastle United), Manuel Akanji (Manchester City), Nico Elvedi (Borussia Monchengladbach), Silvan Widmer (Mainz 05), Cedric Zesigner (Wolfsburg), Leonidas Stergiou (Stuttgart)

Midfielders Granit Xhaka (Bayer Leverkusen), Xherdan Shaqiri (Chicago Fire), Remo Freuler (Bologna), Denis Zakaria (Monaco), Michel Aebischer (Bologna), Fabian Rieder (Rennes), Ardon Jashari (Luzern), Vincent Sierro (Toulouse)

Forwards Breel Embolo (Monaco), Steven Zuber (AEK Athens), Ruben Vargas (Augsburg), Renato Steffen (Lugano), Noah Okafor (AC Milan), Zeki Amdouni (Burnley), Dan Ndoye (Bologna), Kwadwo Duah (Ludogorets)
Switzerland probably reached their high water mark at Euro 2020+1 when, in an extraordinary comeback from 3-1 down with 10 minutes left, the Nati beat France on penalties in the Last 16 following a 3-3 draw. Notably, that was the first time since the 1938 World Cup that a Swiss team had triumphed in a straight knockout match at a major tournament finals - but Murat Yakin's men were unable to build on their breakthrough moment. Instead, in Qatar at the 2022 World Cup, the Swiss were thrashed 6-1 by Portugal in the Last 16 - and an ageing team then stumbled through qualifying for this tournament. Switzerland only managed to beat Israel at home, Belarus away and Andorra twice to finish well behind group winners Romania - and it is difficult to make a case that they will be even able to make their customary appearance in the knockout stage this time.

Prediction Group stage

🟥 GROUP B 🟥

15-June	(5pm)	SPAIN v CROATIA	Berlin  ITV
15-June	(8pm)	ITALY v ALBANIA	Dortmund  BBC
19-June	(2pm)	CROATIA v ALBANIA	Hamburg  ITV
20-June	(8pm)	SPAIN v ITALY	Gelsenkirchen  ITV
24-June	(8pm)	ALBANIA v SPAIN	Dusseldorf  BBC
24-June	(8pm)	CROATIA v ITALY	Leipzig  BBC

SPAIN • FIFA ranking 8

Head coach Luis de la Fuente (since December 2022)  

Qualification Group A winners (W7 D0 L1 F25 A25 Pts 21)

Warm-up matches W5-0 v Andorra, W5-1 v Northern Ireland

Best performance Winners 1964, 2008, 2012

Squad

Goalkeepers Unai Simon (Athletic Bilbao), David Raya (Arsenal), Alex Remiro (Real Sociedad)

Defenders Dani Carvajal (Real Madrid), Jesus Navas (Sevilla), Aymeric Laporte (Al Nassr), Robin Le Normand (Real Sociedad), Nacho (Real Madrid), Dani Vivian (Athletic Bilbao), Alejandro Grimaldo (Bayer Leverkusen), Marc Cucurella (Chelsea)

Midfielders Rodri (Manchester City), Martin Zubimendi (Real Sociedad), Fabian (Paris Saint-Germain), Mikel Merino (Real Sociedad), Pedri (Barcelona), Aleix Garcia (Girona), Fermin Lopez (Barcelona)

Forwards Alvaro Morata (Atletico Madrid), Joselu (Real Madrid), Mikel Oyarzabal (Real Sociedad), Dani Olmo (RB Leipzig), Ferran Torres (Barcelona), Nico Williams (Athletic Bilbao), Lamine Yamal (Barcelona), Ayoze Perez (Real Betis)

Another tournament, another head coach for Spain with La Roja on a seemingly never-ending search for the next boss to usher in, Midas-like, another Golden Era. Indeed, since the departure of Vicente Del Bosque in 2016 confirmed the end of an epoch of unparalleled success, Spain have undergone six changes of coach with Luis Enrique appointed twice. In fairness to the Spanish FA, not all of the turnover has been of their own making - Fernando Hierro always felt like a mere stop-gap after Julen Lopetegui was sensationally dumped on the eve of the 2018 World Cup for breach of contract by holding secretive talks with Real Madrid over their then-vacant position. Meanwhile, Hierro's replacement Luis Enrique stepped down on the first occasion in 2019 for devastating personal reasons, later revealed to be the illness and death of his young daughter from cancer. Some consistency of approach is required henceforth, however - and, unless the tournament is a complete blow-out, incumbent head coach Luis de la Fuente needs time to mature a squad which is still very much in development.

Prediction Semi finals

CROATIA • FIFA ranking 10

Head coach Zlatko Dalic (since October 2017)

Qualification Group D runners-up (W5 D1 L2 F13 A4 Pts 16)

Warm-up matches W3-0 v North Macedonia, W2-1 v Portugal

Best performance Quarter finals 1996, 2008

Squad

Goalkeepers Dominik Livakovic (Fenerbahce), Ivica Ivusic (Pafos), Nediljko Labrovic (Rijeka)

Defenders Domagoj Vida (AEK Athens), Josip Juranovic (Union Berlin), Josko Gvardiol (Manchester City), Borna Sosa (Ajax), Josip Stanisic (Bayer Leverkusen), Josip Sutalo (Ajax), Martin Erlic (Sassuolo), Marin Pongracic (Lecce)

Midfielders Luka Modric (Real Madrid), Mateo Kovacic (Manchester City), Marcelo Brozovic (Al Nassr), Mario Pasalic (Atalanta), Nikola Vlasic (Torino), Lovro Majer (Wolsfburg), Luka Ivanusec (Feyenoord), Luka Sucic (RB Salzburg), Martin Baturina (Dinamo Zagreb)

Forwards Ivan Perisic (Hajduk Split), Andrej Kramaric (Hoffenheim), Bruno Petkovic (Dinamo Zagreb), Marko Pjaca (Rijeka), Ante Budimir (Osasuna), Marco Pasalic (Rijeka)
An astonishing fact - and one which does not seem true - is that Croatia have never won a European Championship knockout match, in four previous attempts. Of course, Hrvatska have tended to save their best performances over the years for the World Cup, finishing runners-up in 2018 and reaching the semi finals in 2022. Even in those tournaments, though, the Croatians relied at times on sheer will to get through, winning only one of their eight latter stage matches inside 90 minutes across those two tournaments. Remarkably, 35-year-old Ivan Perisic and midfield maestro Luka Modric, at the age of 38, are both still around and have been included in the squad by long-serving head coach Zlatko Dalic. Time waits for no man, though - and surely Modric, in particular, cannot endure another exhausting campaign - or can he?
Prediction Last 16

ITALY • FIFA ranking 9

Head coach Luciano Spalletti (since September 2023)

Qualification Group C runners-up (W4 D2 L2 F16 A9 Pts 14)

Warm-up matches D0-0 v Turkey, W1-0 v Bosnia-Herzegovina

Best performance Winners 1968, 2020+1

Squad

Goalkeepers Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain), Alex Meret (Napoli), Ivan Provedel (Lazio), Guglielmo Vicario (Tottenham)

Defenders Alessandro Bastoni (Inter Milan), Raoul Bellanova (Torino), Alessandro Buongiorno (Torino), Riccardo Calafiori (Bologna), Andrea Cambiaso (Juventus), Matteo Darmian (Inter Milan), Giovanni di Lorenzo (Napoli), Federico Dimarco (Inter Milan), Gianluca Mancini (Roma), Federico Gatti (Juventus)

Midfielders Nicolo Barella (Inter Milan), Bryan Cristante (Roma), Nicolo Fagioli (Juventus), Michael Folorunsho (Verona), Davide Frattesi (Inter Milan), Jorginho (Arsenal), Lorenzo Pellegrini (Roma)

Forwards Federico Chiesa (Juventus), Stephan El Shaarawy (Roma), Giacomo Raspadori (Napoli), Mateo Retegui (Genoa), Gianluca Scamacca (Atalanta), Mattia Zaccagni (Lazio)
In the record books, the Italian victory in Euro 2020+1 already looks like something of a peculiarity - especially as it was amidst the culmination of a three-year unbeaten run which eventually totalled 37 matches. After all, either side of that triumph, the Azzurri failed even to qualify for successive World Cup finals in 2018 and 2022 having previously been ever-present from 1950. Again, progress to Euro 2024 was a little hairy and only secured in the last group game with a 0-0 draw against Ukraine in neutral Leverkusen. The Ukrainians even had a strong shout for a penalty in stoppage time at the end of the game which, if given and converted, would have consigned the holders to yet another frightful playoff campaign. Perhaps, that win at Wembley three years ago was something of a last stand by a generation built on the foundations of a typically strong defence marshalled by Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini - and, with no obvious players of that ilk in the squad named by head coach Luciano Spalletti, it would be fair to suggest that Italy are a team in transition.
Prediction Quarter finals

ALBANIA • FIFA ranking 66

Head coach Sylvinho (since January 2023)

Qualification Group E winners (W4 D3 L1 F12 A4 Pts 15)

Warm-up matches W3-0 v Liechtenstein, W3-1 v Azerbaijan

Best performance  Group stage 2016

Squad

Goalkeepers Etrit Berisha (Empoli), Thomas Strakosha (Brentford), Elhan Kastrati (Cittadella)

Defenders Berat Djimsiti (Atalanta), Elseid Hysaj (Lazio), Ivan Balliu (Rayo Vallecano), Ardian Ismajli (Empoli), Arlind Ajeti (CFR Cluj), Naser Aliji (Voluntari), Mario Mitaj (Lokomotiv Moscow), Enea Mihaj (Famalicao), Marash Kumbulla (Sassuolo)

Midfielders Amir Abrashi, Kristjan Asllani (Inter Milan), Nedim Bajrami (Sassuolo), Medon Berisha (Lecce), Klaus Gjasula (Darmstadt), Qazim Laci (Sparta Prague), Ernest Muci (Besiktas), Ylber Ramadani (Lecce)

Forwards Jasir Asani (Gwangju FC), Armando Broja (Fulham), Mirlind Daku (Rubin Kazan), Arber Hoxha (Dinamo Zagreb), Rey Manaj (Sivasspor), Taulant Seferi (Baniyas)

By tapping into their diaspora, Albania have significantly strengthened a previously weak national team and have now qualified for two of the last three European Championship finals. No fewer than 18 of the 26 players named in the squad by Brazilian coach Sylvinho were born outside of Albania - but have found route to international football via their ancestry. Furthermore, the presence of players in Italy and Germany has allowed them to benefit from developing in teams playing a much higher standard of football than that experienced by previous Albanian generations - and a repeat of their solid though unspectacular performances at Euro 2016 suggests they will be no pushovers. Despite this, in a clear sign that not everything can be planned, the Red and Blacks have been drawn in a real Group of Death, so expect plenty of valiant effort - but for those efforts to be in vain.
Prediction Group stage

🟥 GROUP C 🟥

16-June	(5pm)	SLOVENIA v DENMARK	Stuttgart  ITV
16-June	(8pm)	SERBIA v ENGLAND	Gelsenkirchen  BBC
20-June	(2pm)	SLOVENIA v SERBIA	Munich  ITV
20-June	(5pm)	DENMARK v ENGLAND	Frankfurt  BBC
25-June	(8pm)	ENGLAND v SLOVENIA	Cologne  ITV
25-June	(8pm)	DENMARK v SERBIA	Munich  ITV

SLOVENIA • FIFA ranking 57

Head coach Matjaz Kek (since November 2018)  

Qualification Group H runners-up (W7 D1 L2 F20 A9 Pts 22)

Warm-up matches W2-1 v Armenia, D1-1 v Bulgaria

Best performance Group stage 2000

Squad

Goalkeepers Jan Oblak (Atletico Madrid), Vid Belec (APOEL), Igor Vekic (Vejle)

Defenders Petar Stojanovic (Sampdoria), Jaka Bijol (Udinese), Miha Blazic (Lech Poznan), Jure Balkovec (Alanyaspor), Zan Karnicnik (Celje), David Brekalo (Orlando City), Erik Janza (Gornik Zabrze), Vanja Drkusic (Sochi)

Midfielders Timi Max Elsnik (Olimpija Ljubljana), Jasmin Kurtic (Sudtirol), Benjamin Verbic (Panathinaikos), Sandi Lovric (Udinese), Adam Gnezda Cerin (Panathinaikos), Jon Gorenc Stankovic (Sturm Graz), Tomi Horvat (Sturm Graz), Adrian Zeljkovic (Spartak Trnava), Nino Zugelj (Bodo/Glimt), Josip Ilicic (Maribor)

Forwards Andraz Sporar (Panathinaikos), Benjamin Sesko (RB Leipzig), Zan Celar (Lugano), Jan Mlakar (Pisa), Zan Vipotnik (Bordeaux)

Slovenia coach Matjaz Kek produced more magic in his second spell in charge of the national team, leading the Dragons to a major championship for the first time since he led them to the 2010 World Cup during his first period at the helm 14 years ago. Nevertheless, it should be pointed out that this small, beautiful nation of just over two million people - wedged between Italy, Hungary, Austria and Croatia - has a relatively respectable record since gaining independence in 1991. In fact, this will be a fourth appearance at a major finals for the Slovenians - although qualifying for tournaments does appear to be the height of their ability. Ranked down in 57th, Kek's men are firm outsiders in this section - and, having failed to get through to the knockout stages in three previous attempts, it would be a big surprise if it were a case of fourth time lucky.
Prediction Group stage

DENMARK • FIFA ranking 21

Head coach Kasper Hjulmand (since August 2020)

Qualification Group H winners (W7 D1 L2 F19 A10 Pts 22)

Warm-up matches W2-1 v Sweden, W3-1 v Norway

Best performance Winners 1992

Squad

Goalkeepers Kasper Schmeichel (Anderlecht), Frederik Ronnow (Union Berlin), Mads Hermansen (Leicester)

Defenders Andreas Christensen (Barcelona), Simon Kjaer (AC Milan), Joachim Andersen (Crystal Palace), Jannik Vestergaard (Leicester), Victor Nelsson (Galatasaray), Alexander Bah (Benfica), Joakim Maehle (Wolfsburg), Rasmus Nissen Kristensen (Roma), Victor Kristiansen (Bologna)

Midfielders Christian Eriksen (Manchester United), Thomas Delaney (Anderlecht), Morten Hjulmand (Sporting Lisbon), Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (Tottenham), Christian Norgaard (Brentford), Mathias Jensen (Brentford), Mikkel Damsgaard (Brentford), Jacob Bruun Larsen (Burnley), Andreas Skov Olsen (Club Bruges)

Forwards Anders Dreyer (Anderlecht), Kasper Dolberg (Anderlecht), Rasmus Hojlund (Manchester United), Jonas Wind (Wolfsburg), Yusuf Poulsen (Leipzig)

Denmark are the sole representative from Scandinavia - and, for good measure, beat their two rivals Sweden and Norway in warm-up matches ahead of this tournament. The Swedes may have Alexander Isak and the Norwegians have Erling Haaland - but the Danes comprise of a far more balanced team than either. Young forward Rasmus Hojland understandably struggled at times this season in a difficult environment at Manchester United - but he persisted and had found some form by the end of the campaign. And, while still some way off capturing the imagination in the manner of the Danish Dynamite team of the 1980s and early 1990s, the threat of Hojland can only enhance the prospects further of a squad which is otherwise largely unchanged from the selection which was good enough to reach the semi finals at Euro 2020+1.

Prediction Last 16

SERBIA • FIFA ranking 33

Head coach Dragan Stojkovic (since March 2021)

Qualification Group G runners-up (W4 D2 L2 F14 A9 Pts 14)

Warm-up matches L1-2 v Austria, W3-0 v Sweden

Best performance Never previously qualified

Squad

Goalkeepers Vanja Milinkovic Savic (Turin), Predrag Rajkovic (Majorca), Dorde Petrovic (Chelsea)

Defenders Strahinja Pavlovic (RB Salzburg), Nikola Milenkovic (Fiorentina), Milos Veljkovic (Werder Bremen), Srdan Babic (Spartak Moscow), Uros Spajic (Red Star), Nemanja Stojic (TSC)

Midfielders Sasa Lukic (Fulham), Nemanja Gudelj (Seville), Nemanja Maksimovic (Getafe), Ivan Ilic (Torino), Srdjan Mijailovic (Red Star), Sergej Milinkovic Savic (Al Hilal), Dusan Tadic (Fenerbahce), Lazar Samardzic (Udinese), Veljko Birmancevic (Sparta Prague), Filip Kostic (Juventus), Filip Mladenovic (Panathinaikos), Andrija Zivkovic (PAOK), Mijat Gacinovic (AEK)

Forwards Aleksandar Mitrovic (Al Hilal), Dusan Vlahovic (Juventus), Luka Jovic (Milan), Petar Ratkov (RB Salzburg)

Serbia are probably best described as having had a series of teams which, over the years, have produced results equal to less than the sum of their parts. After all, since the break-up of Yugoslavia following the devastating civil war and other regional conflicts throughout the 1990s, Serbia on its own had never previously qualified for a European Championship finals - and it has meant much of the relative success of the Yugoslavian national team has been attributed in retrospect to the presence of players from the other republics, especially those from Croatia. Nevertheless, there have been plenty of talented Serbians over the years - head coach Dragan Stojkovic was certainly one of them - while some of the current squad might eventually look back at their careers and wonder what might have been. With Dusan Tadic still pulling the strings, though, the Eagles can call upon the likes of Aleksandar Mitrovic, Dusan Vlahovic and Luka Jovic up front to cover for an occasionally porous defence - and they will be a threat if they can make a good start and get on a roll.

Prediction Group stage

ENGLAND • FIFA ranking 13

Head coach Gareth Southgate (since September 2016)

Qualification Group C winners (W6 D2 L0 F22 A4 Pts 20)

Warm-up matches W3-0 v Bosnia-Herzegovina, L0-1 v Iceland

Best performance Runners-up 2020+1

Squad

Goalkeepers Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace), Jordan Pickford (Everton), Aaron Ramsdale (Arsenal)

Defenders Lewis Dunk (Brighton), Joe Gomez (Liverpool), Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace), Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa), Luke Shaw (Manchester United), John Stones (Manchester City), Kieran Trippier (Newcastle), Kyle Walker (Manchester City)

Midfielders Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Conor Gallagher (Chelsea), Kobbie Mainoo (Manchester United), Declan Rice (Arsenal), Adam Wharton (Crystal Palace)

Forwards Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Jarrod Bowen (West Ham), Eberechi Eze (Crystal Palace), Phil Foden (Manchester City), Anthony Gordon (Newcastle), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Cole Palmer (Chelsea), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Ivan Toney (Brentford), Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa) 

For England, the time really is now - or, then again, maybe it was three years ago when the Three Lions blew a golden opportunity at home against Italy in the Euro 2020+1 Final for a first major trophy since 1966. Fired into an early lead through Luke Shaw, England continued to control the early part of the match - but, once a second breakthrough failed to materialise, Gareth Southgate's men became more and more cautious about protecting the lead. By the time Italy equalised in the second half, the tide had well and truly turned, and left England to hang on grimly before an all-too-familiar penalty shootout defeat. Of course, this time, Jude Bellingham will be more than the peripheral figure which he was as a teenager at Euro 2020+1 - indeed, even though head coach Southgate has denied that England will be over-reliant on Bellingham, his talent is such that only a fool would refuse to build a team around him. Outside of Bellingham, the Three Lions have an embarrassment of riches in terms of attacking midfielders to support their record goalscorer Harry Kane - to the extent that it is difficult to find a place comfortably in the starting line-up for the excellent Phil Foden. Declan Rice replaces the omitted Jordan Henderson in central midfield - and he too has an eye for goal. However, the primary issue for Southgate is the defence which has a variety of concerns about lack of form, fitness and, to an extent, experience. As such, it does not make much sense for England to persist with defensive tactics given that defending is by far their weaker hand. For the Three Lions to succeed this summer in Germany, Southgate needs to release the shackles so that England can turn the screw when it really counts - but that goes against all of the instincts shown in the role by the former centre-back.

Prediction Quarter finals

🟥 GROUP D 🟥

16-June	(2pm)	POLAND v NETHERLANDS	Hamburg  BBC
17-June	(8pm)	AUSTRIA v FRANCE	Dusseldorf  ITV
21-June	(5pm)	POLAND v AUSTRIA	Berlin  ITV
21-June	(8pm)	NETHERLANDS v FRANCE	Leipzig  BBC
25-June	(5pm)	NETHERLANDS v AUSTRIA	Berlin  BBC
25-June	(5pm)	FRANCE v POLAND	Dortmund  BBC

POLAND • FIFA ranking 28

Head coach Michal Probierz (since September 2023)  

Qualification Path A playoff winners (won 5-4 on pens v Wales, D0-0 after extra time)

Warm-up matches W3-1 v Ukraine, W2-1 v Turkey

Best performance Quarter finals 2016

Squad

Goalkeepers Wojciech Szczęsny (Juventus), Marcin Bulka (Nice), Łukasz Skorupski (Bologna)

Defenders Jan Bednarek (Southampton), Bartosz Bereszyński (Empoli), Jakub Kiwior (Arsenal), Bartosz Salamon (Lech Poznań), Tymoteusz Puchacz (Kaiserslautern), Paweł Dawidowicz (Verona), Sebastian Walukiewicz (Empoli)

Midfielders Przemysław Frankowski (Lens), Kamil Grośicki (Pogoń Szczecin), Jakub Moder (Brighton), Taras Romanczuk (Jagiellonia Białystok), Damian Szymanski (AEK Athens) Nikola Załewski (Roma), Jakub Piotrowski (Ludogorets), Bartosz Slisz (Atlanta), Sebastian Szymański (Fenerbahce), Kacper Urbański (Bologna), Piotr Zieliński (Napoli), Piotr Zielenski (Napoli)

Forwards Adam Buksa (Antalyaspor), Robert Lewandowski (Barcelona), Krzysztof Piątek (Başakşehir), Kamil Swiderski (Verona)
Poland scrambled through to a fifth successive European Championship finals - and a fifth successive major tournament - in deeply unconvincing style so hopes are not high that star player Robert Lewandowski will mark what could be his international swansong in style. First, the Bialo-czerwoni messed up a straightforward qualifying group by losing away to Moldova and Albania - then, having ended up in the playoffs after replacing Portuguese head coach Fernando Santos with Michal Probierz, they endured a torturous 120 goalless minutes against Wales at the Cardiff City Stadium. Ultimately, Poland prevailed on penalties - something might prove psychologically useful in the knockout stages. The big problem for Probierz, though, is that his side initially must overcome France, Netherlands and even an Austria outfit which might have just too much for them.

Prediction Group stage

NETHERLANDS • FIFA ranking 7

Head coach Ronald Koeman (since January 2023)

Qualification Group B runners-up (W6 D0 L2 F17 A7 Pts 18)

Warm-up matches W4-0 v Canada, W4-0 v Iceland

Best performance Winners 1988

Squad

Goalkeepers Justin Bijlow (Feyenoord), Mark Flekken (Brentford), Bart Verbruggen (Brighton & Hove Albion)

Defenders Nathan Ake (Manchester City), Daley Blind (Girona), Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool), Denzel Dumfries (Inter Milan), Jeremie Frimpong (Bayer Leverkusen), Lutsharel Geertruida (Feyenoord), Matthijs de Ligt (Bayern Munich), Micky van de Ven (Tottenham Hotspur), Stefan de Vrij (Inter Milan)

Midfielders Ryan Gravenberch (Liverpool), Frenkie de Jong (Barcelona), Teun Koopmeiners (Atalanta), Tijjani Reijnders (AC Milan), Jerdy Schouten (PSV Eindhoven), Xavi Simons (RB Leipzig), Joey Veerman (PSV Eindhoven), Georginio Wijnaldum (Al-Ettifaq)

Forwards Steven Bergwijn (Ajax), Brian Brobbey (Ajax), Memphis Depay (Atletico Madrid), Cody Gakpo (Liverpool), Donyell Malen (Borussia Dortmund), Wout Weghorst (Hoffenheim, on loan from Burnley)

Hordes of Netherlands fans - all bedecked in orange, of course - have crossed the border to Germany in the hope that their team will achieve a repeat of the last time that a European Championship was hosted in its entirety on German soil. Back then, in 1988, a Dutch line-up featuring current head coach Ronald Koeman in defence, and Marco Van Basten and Ruud Gullit up front, won their country's only major international honour to date in the Final against the Soviet Union. However, more recently, the Oranje have merely been seeking to recover their standing in world football following their stunning failure to qualify for the finals of either Euro 2016 or the 2018 World Cup. At the 2022 World Cup, the Dutch effectively achieved that, almost pulling off an audacious late comeback in the quarter finals against eventual winners Argentina. Striker Wout Weghorst may not have made much of an impression in the Premier League at Manchester United or Burnley - but he has a canny knack of scoring some critical goals for the Netherlands. In truth, though, this is primarily a workmanlike outfit, built around the maintenance of a strong defence and marshalled by skipper Virgil Van Dijk.

Prediction Quarter finals

AUSTRIA • FIFA ranking 25

Head coach Ralf Rangnick (since May 2022)

Qualification Group F runners-up (W6 D1 L1 F17 A7 Pts 19)

Warm-up matches W2-1 v Serbia, D1-1 v Switzerland

Best performance Last 16 2020+1

Squad

Goalkeepers Patrick Pentz (Brondby), Heinz Lindner (Union Saint-Gilloise), Niklas Hedl (Rapid Wien)

Defenders Stefan Posch (Bologna), Max Wober (Borussia Monchengladbach), Philipp Lienhart (Freiburg), Kevin Danso (Lens), Phillipp Mwene (Mainz), Flavius Daniliuc (Red Bull Salzburg), Gernot Trauner (Feyenoord), Leopold Querfeld (Rapid Wien)

Midfielders Marcel Sabitzer (Borussia Dortmund), Florian Grillitsch (Hoffenheim), Christoph Baumgartner (RB Leipzig), Konrad Laimer (Bayern Munich), Florian Kain (Cologne), Nicolas Seiwald (RB Leipzig), Romano Schmid (Werder Bremen), Alexander Prass (Sturm Graz), Matthias Seidl (Rapid Vienna)

Forwards Marko Arnautovic (Inter Milan), Michael Gregoritsch (Freiburg), Andreas Weimann (West Brom), Patrick Wimmer (Wolfsburg), Marco Grull (Rapid Wien), Maximilian Entrup (TSV Hartberg)

Austria enjoyed something of a breakout tournament at Euro 2020+1, winning their first European Championship finals matches at the third attempt. Without an appearance at the World Cup since 1998, the extension of the Euros to 24 teams has offered a lifeline to Austrian football - and, after six fruitless games in 2008 as hosts and in 2016, they got the better of both North Macedonia and Ukraine in Euro 2020+1. Ultimately, the Austrians' journey was then ended at the Last 16 stage by eventual winners Italy - though only after they had pushed that tie into extra time as the likes of Marcel Sabitzer of Borussia Dortmund and David Alaba of Real Madrid shone on the international stage. Sadly, the latter will not make it this time on account of an agonising anterior cruciate ligament injury - and his absence has dampened expectations of what Ralf Rangnick's men can achieve over the border in Germany.

Prediction Last 16

FRANCE • FIFA ranking 13

Head coach Didier Deschamps (since July 2012)

Qualification Group B winners (W7 D1 L0 F29 A3 Pts 22)

Warm-up matches W3-0 v Luxembourg, D0-0 v Canada

Best performance Winners 1984, 2000

Squad

Goalkeepers Alphonse Areola (West Ham), Mike Maignan (AC Milan), Brice Samba (Lens)

Defenders Jonathan Clauss (Marseille), Ibrahima Konate (Liverpool), William Saliba (Arsenal), Jules Kounde (Barcelona), Theo Hernandez (AC Milan), Ferland Mendy (Real Madrid), Benjamin Pavard (Bayern Munich), Dayot Upamecano (Bayern Munich)

Midfielders N'Golo Kante (Al-Ittihad), Eduardo Camavinga (Real Madrid), Adrien Rabiot (Juventus), Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid), Aurelien Tchouameni (Real Madrid), Warren Zaire-Emery (Paris St-Germain), Youssouf Fofana (Monaco)

Forwards Kylian Mbappe (Paris St-Germain), Bradley Barcola (Paris St-Germain), Ousmane Dembele (Paris St-Germain), Kingsley Coman (Bayern Munich), Marcus Thuram (Inter Milan), Randal Kolo Muani (Paris St-Germain), Olivier Giroud (AC Milan)

France may not have carried off the trophy at the last World Cup but they did maintain their position as the number one team in Europe. A hat-trick by star man Kylian Mbappe rescued Les Bleus in both normal and extra time against Argentina in a fascinating Final but defeat on penalties meant that, in both of the last two tournaments, France have gone out on penalties following a crazy 3-3 draw. The loss to Switzerland at Euro 2020+1 particularly hurt given that Les Bleus were in total control at 3-1 up with less than 10 minutes remaining - and it is actually pretty remarkable that the French have not achieved some sort of winning dynasty under head coach Didier Deschamps, given the strength of the squad which he has led since 2012. Consequently, the pressure is on France at Euro 2024 not just to compete but to win the whole thing - otherwise Deschamps will find it difficult to justify his position if an extremely talented French side miss out on the title for the third major tournament in a row.

Prediction Runners-up

🟥 GROUP E 🟥

17-June	(2pm)	ROMANIA v UKRAINE	Munich  BBC
17-June	(5pm)	BELGIUM v SLOVAKIA	Frankfurt  ITV
21-June	(2pm)	SLOVAKIA v UKRAINE	Dusseldorf  BBC
22-June	(8pm)	BELGIUM v ROMANIA	Cologne  ITV
26-June	(5pm)	SLOVAKIA v ROMANIA	Frankfurt  BBC
26-June	(5pm)	UKRAINE v BELGIUM	Stuttgart  BBC

BELGIUM • FIFA ranking 3

Head coach Domenico Tedesco (since February 2023)  

Qualification Group F winners (W6 D2 L0 F22 A4 Pts 20)

Warm-up matches W2-0 v Montenegro, W3-0 v Luxembourg

Best performance Runners-up 1980

Squad

Goalkeepers Matz Sels (Nottingham Forest), Koen Casteels (Wolfsburg), Thomas Kaminski (Luton)

Defenders Wout Faes (Leicester), Timothy Castagne (Fulham), Arthur Theate (Rennes), Jan Vertonghen (Anderlecht), Axel Witsel (Atletico Madrid), Zeno Debast (Anderlecht), Thomas Meunier (Trabzonspor), Maxim De Cuyper (Club Brugge)

Midfielders Aster Vranckx (Wolfsburg), Youri Tielemans (Aston Villa), Orel Mangala (Lyon), Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City), Arthur Vermeeren (Atletico Madrid), Amadou Onana (Everton)

Forwards Romelu Lukaku (Roma), Charles De Ketelaere (Atalanta), Jeremy Doku (Manchester City), Lois Openda (Leipzig), Leandro Trossard (Arsenal), Johan Bakayoko (PSV Eindhoven), Dodi Lukebakio (Sevilla), Yannick Carrasco (Al-Shabab)

"Too old" - that was the blistering verdict of Kevin De Bruyne after Belgium lost to Morocco in the course of a group stage exit at the 2022 World Cup. It was difficult to disagree with De Bruyne - especially as, following their failure in Qatar, several players followed coach Roberto Martinez out of the exit door. Most recently, veteran goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois was the latest to rule himself out of these finals, ostensibly claiming to be injured before returning to the Real Madrid side before the end of the season. And, with De Bruyne's critical view from 18 months ago still ringing in the ears of his team-mates, this seems like a difficult group of players for inexperienced head coach Domenico Tedesco to manage. Some of the so-called Golden Generation, along with De Bruyne, remain in the squad including forward Romelu Lukaku - and the Belgians have also been afforded room to grow into the tournament by a reasonably kindly group stage draw. In terms of winning a trophy, though, it is probably easier at this stage to accept that the ship has already sailed.

Prediction Last 16

SLOVAKIA • FIFA ranking 48

Head coach Francesco Calzona (since August 2022)

Qualification Group J runners-up (W7 D1 L2 F17 A8 Pts 22)

Warm-up matches W4-0 v San Marino, W4-0 v Wales

Best performance Last 16 2016

Squad

Goalkeepers Martin Dubravka (Newcastle), Marek Rodak, Henrich Ravas (New England Revolution)

Defenders Peter Pekarik (Hertha Berlin), Milan Skriniar (Paris Saint-Germain), Norbert Gyomber (Salernitana), David Hancko (Feyenoord), Denis Vavro (Copenhagen), Vernon De Marco (Hatta), Adam Obert (Cagliari), Matus Kmet (AS Trencin), Sebastian Kosa (Spartak Trnava)

Midfielders Juraj Kucka (Slovan Bratislava), Ondrej Duda (Hellas Verona), Patrik Hrosovsky (Genk), Stanislav Lobotka (Napoli), Matus Bero (Bochum), Laszlo Benes (Hamburg)

Forwards Robert Bozenik (Boavista), Lukas Haraslin (Sparta Prague), Tomas Suslov (Hellas Verona), Ivan Schranz (Slavia Prague), David Strelec (Slovan Bratislava), David Duris (Ascoli), Lubomir Tupta (Slovan Liberec), Leo Sauer (Feyenoord)

History has treated Slovakian football rather unfairly with the Czechoslovakian triumph at Euro 1976 more often attributed to the Czech Republic - even though eight of the 13 players who were involved in the tournament had been born in modern-day Slovakia. Moreover, during the 47-year post-war existence of the former Czechoslovakia, and indeed in the 31-year period since its dissolution in 1993, only Slovan Bratislava - from the Slovakian capital - have tasted success on the continental stage with their victory in the 1969 Cup Winners Cup Final. Unfortunately, for the Falcons, though, it does not seem likely that more history will be made this summer with an ageing all-round team and a decidedly error-prone first-choice goalkeeper in Martin Dubravka firmly pointing instead towards a limp group stage exit.

Prediction Group stage

ROMANIA • FIFA ranking 46

Head coach Edward Iordanescu (since January 2022)

Qualification Group I winners (W6 D4 L0 F16 A5 Pts 22)

Warm-up matches D0-0 v Bulgaria, D0-0 v Liechtenstein

Best performance Quarter finals 2000

Squad

Goalkeepers Florin Nița (Gaziantep), Horatiu Moldovan (Atletico Madrid), Ștefan Tarnovanu (FCSB)

Defenders Nicușor Bancu (Universitatea Craiova), Andrei Burca (Al Okhdood), Ionuț Nedelcearu (Palermo), Adrian Rus (Pafos), Andrei Ratiu (Rayo Vallecano), Radu Dragusin (Tottenham), Vasile Mogoș (CFR Cluj), Bogdan Racovitan (Rakow Czestochowa).

Midfielders Nicolae Stanciu (Damac), Razvan Marin (Empoli), Alexandru Cicaldau (Konyaspor), Ianis Hagi (Alaves), Dennis Man (Parma), Valentin Mihaila (Parma), Marius Marin (Pisa), Darius Olaru (FCSB), Deian Sorescu (Gaziantep), Florinel Coman (FCSB), Adrian Sut (FCSB)

Forwards George Puscas (Bari), Denis Alibec (Muaither), Denis Dragus (Gaziantep), Daniel Birligea (CFR Cluj)

Romania qualified for Euro 2024 in surprisingly convincing fashion, topping the group with an unbeaten record to boot. However, expectations have been subsequently dampened by a dreary, winless run in 2024 featuring home draws against Northern Ireland, Bulgaria and Liechtenstein and a defeat to Colombia in Madrid. That suggests even a section as undemanding as Group E may prove too strong for the Tricolorii - though ties against neighbours Ukraine and near-neighbours Slovakia in their first and third matches could take on a local derby-style feel where form goes out of the window. Indeed, even a single win would be the prompt for a party on the streets of Bucharest given that the last such occurrence at a major finals came 24 years ago at Euro 2000 against England when, towards the end of the third group game with the score at 2-2, Phil Neville made a calamitous decision to dive in at the feet of Viorel Moldovan. Ionel Ganea converted the resultant penalty to send Romania through and the Three Lions home - but, since then, the Romanians have not won any of their last seven European Championship matches.

Prediction Last 16

UKRAINE • FIFA ranking 22

Head coach Serhiy Rebrov (since June 2023)

Qualification Path B playoff winners (W2-1 v Iceland)

Warm-up matches D0-0 v Germany, L1-3 v Poland, W4-0 v Moldova

Best performance Quarter finals 2020+1

Squad

Goalkeepers Andriy Lunin (Real Madrid), Anatoliy Trubin (Benfica), Heorhiy Bushchan (Dynamo Kyiv)

Defenders Yukhym Konoplia, Valeriy Bondar, Mykola Matvienko (all Shakhtar Donetsk), Oleksandr Tymchyk (Dynamo Kyiv), Vitaliy Mykolenko (Everton), Maksym Taloverov (LASK), Illia Zabarnyi (Bournemouth), Oleksandr Svatok (Dnipro-1), Bohdan Mykhaylichenko (Polissya Zhytomyr)

Midfielders Taras Stepanenko, Oleksandr Zubkov, Heorhiy Sudakov (all Shakhtar Donetsk), Andriy Yarmolenko, Volodymyr Brazhko, Mykola Shaparenko (all Dynamo Kyiv), Serhiy Sydorchuk (Westerlo), Ruslan Malinovskyi (Genoa), Mykhailo Mudryk (Chelsea), Viktor Tsyhankov (Girona), Oleksandr Zinchenko (Arsenal)

Forwards Artem Dovbyk (Girona), Roman Yaremchuk (Valencia), Vladyslav Vanat (Dynamo Kyiv)
Ukraine took a circuitous route in qualifying to a fourth consecutive European Championship finals - a sequence which started when they performed hosting duties at Euro 2012. Now, Russian bombs mean Kyiv cannot even stage the Blue-Yellows' own home matches - so it is laudable that this team remains as competitive as it does. Indeed, Ukraine ran title-holders Italy close in an extremely difficult qualifying section which also featured England, before a never-say-die attitude produced two late comebacks in the playoffs against Bosnia-Herzegovina and Iceland. Certainly then, this squad is not short on self-belief - and, with head coach Serhiy Rebrov now serving under former Dynamo Kyiv strike partner, FA President Andriy Shevchenko, an outfit united right from the very top will back themselves to cause problems for opponents in an open-looking group.

Prediction Quarter finals

🟥 GROUP F 🟥

18-June	(5pm)	TURKEY v GEORGIA	Dortmund  BBC
18-June	(8pm)	PORTUGAL v CZECH REPUBLIC	Leipzig  BBC
22-June	(2pm)	GEORGIA v CZECH REPUBLIC	Hamburg  BBC
22-June	(5pm)	TURKEY v PORTUGAL	Dortmund  ITV
26-June	(8pm)	GEORGIA v PORTUGAL	Gelsenkirchen  ITV
26-June	(8pm)	CZECH REPUBLIC v TURKEY	Hamburg  ITV

TURKEY • FIFA ranking 40

Head coach Vincenzo Montella (since September 2023)  

Qualification Group C runners-up (W5 D2 L1 F14 A7 Pts 17)

Warm-up matches D0-0 v Italy, L1-2 v Poland

Best performance Semi finals 2008

Squad

Goalkeepers Mert Gunok (Besiktas), Ugurcan Cakir (Trabzonspor), Altay Bayindir (Manchester United)

Defenders Zeki Celik (Roma), Merih Demiral (Al Ahli), Mert Muldur (Fenerbahce), Ferdi Kadioglu (Fenerbahce), Abdulkerim Bardakci (Galatasaray), Samet Akaydin (Panathinaikos), Ahmetcan Kaplan (Ajax)

Midfielders Hakan Calhanoglu (Inter Milan), Kaan Ayhan (Galatasaray), Okay Yokuslu (West Brom), Orkun Kokcu (Benfica), Salih Ozcan (Borussia Dortmund), Ismail Yuksek (Fenerbahce), Arda Guler (Real Madrid)

Forwards Cenk Tosun (Besiktas), Irfan Kahveci (Fenerbahce), Kerem Akturkoglu (Galatasaray), Baris Alper Yilmaz (Galatasaray), Yunus Akgun (Leicester), Kenan Yildiz (Juventus), Bertug Yildirim (Rennes), Semih Kilicsoy (Besiktas), Yusuf Yazıcı (Lille)

Turkey were one of the surprise packages in qualifying, winning their group ahead of Croatia - but this is still a team well short on the quality produced by the generation in the 2000s decade who reached semi finals in both the 2002 World Cup and Euro 2008. Recent form is a concern, in particular - in March, the Crescent-Stars were thrashed 6-1 by Austria and they have also been beaten by Hungary and Poland this year. Fortunately, for Vincenzo Montella's men, Group F includes the lowest-ranked team of the tournament Georgia - and the Turkish population numbers a significant 1.3 million in Germany so the team will be well-backed throughout the tournament. Nevertheless, a good start against the Georgians will be essential - and, with the two countries sharing a border, that sounds easier than it probably will be for this limited outfit.

Prediction Group stage

GEORGIA • FIFA ranking 75

Head coach Willy Sagnol (since February 2021)  

Qualification Path C playoff winners (won 4-2 on pens v Wales, D0-0 after extra time)

Warm-up matches W3-1 v Montenegro

Best performance Never previously qualified

Squad

Goalkeepers Giorgi Loria (Dinamo Tbilisi), Giorgi Mamardashvili (Valencia), Luka Gugeshashvili (Qarabag)

Defenders Guram Kashia (Slovan Bratislava), Otar Kakabadze (Cracovia), Lasha Dvali (APOEL), Jemal Tabidze (Panetolikos), Luka Lochoshvili (Cremonese), Giorgi Gocholeishvili (Shakhtar Donetsk), Giorgi Gvelesiani (Persepolis)

Midfielders Nika Kvekverskiri (Lech Poznan), Otar Kiteishvili (Sturm Graz), Giorgi Chakvetadze (Watford), Levan Shengelia (Panetlikos), Giorgi Tsitaishvili (Dinamo Batumi), Anzor Mekvabishvili (Universitatea Craiova), Giorgi Kochorashvili (Levante), Sandro Altunashvili (Wolfsberger AC), Jaba Kankava (Slovan Bratislava)

Forwards Giorgi Kvilitaia (APOEL), Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Napoli), Budu Zivzivadze (Karlsruher), Georges Mikautadze (Metz), Zuriko Davitashvili (Bordeaux), Saba Lobzhanidze (Atalanta United)
Georgia may not conjure too many images of football glory - but the history of the sport in the Eurasian nation is far richer than many people realise. True, Euro 2024 will be the first time since gaining independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 that Georgia has reached the finals of a major football tournament finals. But, in the late 1970s and early 1980s, number one club side Dinamo Tbilisi were a force with which to be reckoned and won the UEFA Cup Winners Cup in 1981. Their vast stadium also once squeezed in a crowd of 110,000 spectators for a European Cup first round triumph against Liverpool in 1979 - and it is still used to this day by the national team as well as Dinamo. The Crusaders certainly used the red-hot atmosphere to their advantage in the playoffs where they overcame a nervy Greece side in the Final on penalties - and, while they will struggle to replicate that sort of atmosphere this summer away in Germany, it will an unforgettable experience for the supporters as well as each and every member of Willy Sagnol's squad.

Prediction Group stage

PORTUGAL • FIFA ranking 6

Head coach Roberto Martinez (since January 2023)

Qualification Group J winners (W10 D0 L0 F36 A2 Pts 30)

Warm-up matches W4-2 v Finland, L1-2 v Croatia, W3-0 v Ireland

Best performance Winners 2016

Squad

Goalkeepers Diogo Costa (Porto), Jose Sa (Wolves), Rui Patricio (AS Roma)

Defenders Antonio Silva (Benfica), Danilo Pereira (Paris St Germain), Diogo Dalot (Manchester United), Goncalo Inacio (Sporting), Joao Cancelo (Barcelona), Nelson Semedo (Wolves), Nuno Mendes (PSG), Pepe (Porto), Ruben Dias (Manchester City)

Midfielders Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United), Joao Neves (Benfica), Joao Palhinha (Fulham), Otavio Monteiro (Al Nassr), Ruben Neves (Al-Hilal), Vitinha (PSG)

Forwards Bernardo Silva (Manchester City), Cristiano Ronaldo (Al Nassr), Diogo Jota (Liverpool), Francisco Conceicao (Porto), Goncalo Ramos (PSG), Joao Felix (Barcelona), Pedro Neto (Wolves), Rafael Leao (AC Milan)

Portugal will be pleased to have been drawn into such a favourable group and their perfect record of 10 wins out of 10 in qualifying should be fooling no one given the quality of their opponents. Nevertheless, as the old saying goes, they could only beat what was placed in front of them - and they did so convincingly, scoring 36 goals and conceding just two with 10-goal Cristiano Ronaldo still front and centre, ruling the roost. Ronaldo is 39 years old now and plying his trade at Al-Nassr in the seemingly unchallenging Saudi Arabia Pro League - yet he continues to excel on the international stage with his brace against Ireland in a warm-up match this week taking him up to 130 goals for A Selecao. Rather than age then, the biggest obstacle to success for the Portuguese might be the tactical acumen of Spanish head coach Roberto Martinez who rarely convinced during his six-year tenure in charge of Belgium's so-called Golden Generation.

Prediction Winners

CZECH REPUBLIC • FIFA ranking 36

Head coach Ivan Hasek (since January 2024)

Qualification Group E runners-up (W4 D3 L1 F12 A6 Pts 15)

Warm-up matches W7-1 v Malta, W2-1 v North Macedonia

Best performance Runners-up 1996
Squad

Goalkeepers Jindrich Stanek (Slavia Prague), Matej Kovar (Bayer Leverkusen), Vitezslav Jaros (Sturm Graz)

Defenders Ladislav Krejci (Sparta Prague), Martin Vitik (Sparta Prague), Robin Hranac (Viktoria Plzen), Tomas Vlcek (Slavia Prague), Vladimir Coufal (West Ham), David Doudera (Slavia Prague), David Jurasek (Hoffenheim), Tomas Holes (Slavia Prague), David Zima (Slavia Prague)

Midfielders Tomas Soucek (West Ham), Antonin Barak (Fiorentina), Lukas Provod (Slavia Prague), Pavel Sulc (Viktoria Plzen), Matej Jurasek (Slavia Prague), Vaclav Cerny (VfL Wolfsburg), Lukas Cerv (Viktoria Plzen), Ondrej Lingr (Feyenoord)

Forwards Patrik Schick (Bayer Leverkusen), Adam Hlozek (Bayer Leverkusen), Mojmir Chytil (Slavia Prague), Tomas Chory (Viktoria Plzen), Jan Kuchta (Sparta Prague)
Czech Republic endured a difficult qualification campaign which spelled the end of the road for coach Jaroslav Silhavy - who fled Don Revie-style to the Middle East to take charge of Oman. Silhavy blamed the media and some of the fans for his departure - but it was hardly as if the criticism was completely unfounded after a 0-0 draw against Moldova and one point out of six against Albania left progress to the finals in some doubt. In the end, a vital point away at Poland assuaged those concerns as the Czechs finished runners-up behind the Albanians on goal difference with 15 points out of 24. There is no doubt, though, that new head coach Ivan Hasek will get more from talented pair Patrik Schick and Adam Hlozek who starred in Bayer Leverkusen's stunning unbeaten Bundesliga campaign.

Prediction Last 16