tcThe 2024 European Champions aka EURO 2024 kicks off its month-long extravaganza in Germany on June 14. This year, 24 teams will compete for the continental silverware. They have been split into six groups of four and the top two from each group will qualify straight into the Round of 16. The four best third-placed finishers will fill the remaining spots in the pre-quarterfinals. From then on, it will follow the standard knockout format until the finish line.
Here at Sportslens, we will cover all the most exciting matches of the competition. However, plenty is to come even before the ball rolls on the 14th, starting with a brief overview of the six groups. Read on to meet the challengers from Group A
EURO 2024: Group A Overview
Germany (hosts), Hungary, Scotland, and Switzerland are the four teams in Group A.
Group A Matches:
Matchday 1
June 14 (3:00 PM ET): Germany vs Scotland
June 15 (9:00 AM ET): Hungary vs Switzerland
Matchday 2
June 19 (12:00 PM ET): Germany vs Hungary
June 19 (3:00 PM ET): Scotland vs Switzerland
Matchday 3
June 23 (3:00 PM ET): Switzerland vs Germany
June 23 (3:00 PM ET): Scotland vs Hungary
Squad Details
Germany
Coach Julian Nagelsmann has released a 27-man provisional list for now but will have to trim it down to 26 at least. Here is Germany’s provisional squad list:
Goalkeepers: Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Marc-Andre Ter Stegen (Barcelona), Alexander Nubel (Stuttgart), Oliver Baumann (Hoffenheim)
Defenders: Antonio Rudiger (Real Madrid), Jonathan Tah (Bayer Leverkusen), Robin Koch (Eintracht Frankfurt), Maximilian Mittlestadt (Stuttgart), Nico Schlotterbeck (Borussia Dortmund), Waldemar Anton (Stuttgart), Benjamin Henrichs (RB Leipzig), David Raum (RB Leipzig)
Midfielders: Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich), Ilkay Gundogan (Barcelona), Pascal Gross (Brighton), Robert Andrich (Bayer Leverkusen), Chris Fuhrich (Stuttgart), Aleksandar Pavlovic (Bayern Munich), Leroy Sane (Bayern Munich), Toni Kroos (Real Madrid), Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich), Florian Wirtz (Bayer Leverkusen)
Forwards: Niclas Fullkrug (Borussia Dortmund), Kai Havertz (Arsenal), Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich), Deniz Undav (Stuttgart), Maximilian Beier (Hoffenheim)
Hungary
Marco Rossi, meanwhile, has submitted his final 26-man squad for EURO 2024. Here is the final list:
Goalkeeper: Peter Gulacsi (RB Leipzig), Denes Dibusz (Ferencvaros), Peter Szappanos (Paksi FC)
Defenders: Botond Balogh (Parma), Endre Botka (Ferencvaros), Marton Dardai (Hertha Berlin), Attila Fiola (Fehervar), Milos Kerkez (Bournemouth), Adam Lang (Omonia Nicosia), Willi Orban (RB Leipzig), Zsolt Nagy (Puskas Akademia), Attila Szalai (Hoffenheim), Loic Nego (Le Havre)
Midfielders: Bendeguz Bolla (Servette), Daniel Gazdag (Philadelphia Union), Laszlo Kleinheisler (Hajduk Split), Mihaly Kata (MTK Budapest), Adam Nagy (Spezia), Andras Schafer (Union Berlin), Dominik Szoboszlai (Liverpool), Callum Styles (Barnsley)
Forwards: Roland Sallai (Freiburg), Martin Adam (Ulsan HD), Barnabas Varga (Ferencvaros), Kevin Csoboth (Ujpest FC), Krisztofer Horvath (Kecskemeti)
Scotland
Scotland boss Steve Clarke has been working with a 28-man provision squad, meaning he will discard at least two players from his current list. Take a look at the squad below:
Goalkeeper: Craig Gordon (Hearts), Angus Gunn (Norwich City), Zander Clark (Rangers), Liam Kelly (Motherwell)
Defenders: Andy Robertson (Liverpool), Kieran Tierney (Real Sociedad), Jack Hendry (Al Ettifaq), Ryan Porteous (Watford), Liam Cooper (Leeds United), Scott McKenna (FC Copenhagen), Grant Hanley (Norwich City), Greg Taylor (Celtic), John Souttar (Rangers), Anthony Ralston (Celtic), Ross McCrorie (Bristol City)
Midfielders: Callum McGregor (Celtic), Ryan Christie (Bournemouth), Billy Gilmour (Brighton & Hove Albion), John McGinn (Aston Villa), Kenny McLean (Norwich City), Scott McTominay (Manchester United), Stuart Armstrong (Southampton), Ryan Jack (Rangers)
Forwards: Lyndon Dykes (QPR), Che Adams (Southampton), Lawrence Shankland (Hearts), Ben Doak (Liverpool), James Forrest (Celtic)
Switzerland
Lastly, we have Switzerland, who made it into the last 16 of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Coach Murat Yakin currently has 33 players in his squad, meaning there will be some broken hearts when the final squad goes through on June 8.
Goalkeepers: Marvin Keller (Winterthur), Gregor Kobel (Borussia Dortmund), Pascal Loretz (Luzern), Yvon Mvogo (Lorient), Yann Sommer (Inter Milan)
Defenders: Manuel Akanji (Manchester City), Nico Elvedi (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Albian Hajdari (Lugano), Kevin Mbabu (Augsburg), Ricardo Rodriguez (Torino), Fabian Schär (Newcastle United), Leonidas Stergiou (VfB Stuttgart), Silvan Widmer (Mainz 05), Cédric Zesiger (VfL Wolfsburg)
Midfielders: Michel Aebischer (Bologna), Uran Bislimi (Lugano), Remo Freuler Bologna), Ardon Jashari (Luzern), Fabian Rieder (Rennes), Xherdan Shaqiri (Chicago Fire FC), Vincent Sierro (Toulouse), Filip Ugrinic (Young Boys), Granit Xhaka (Bayer Leverkusen), Denis Zakaria (Monaco)
Forwards: Zeki Amdouni (Burnley), Kwadwo Duah (Ludogorets Razgrad), Breel Embolo (Monaco), Dan Ndoye (Bologna), Noah Okafor (Milan), Renato Steffen (Lugano), Ruben Vargas (Augsburg), Andi Zeqiri (Genk), Steven Zuber (AEK)
Prediction
Germany have had difficulty living up to expectations in recent tournaments. They crashed out of the group stage in the last two World Cups and could not reach the quarter-finals in EURO 2020. However, Die Mannschaft should fare a lot better at home. They also are in a relatively straightforward group and should not have trouble topping it.
The second place could be a hotly contested battle between Scotland and Switzerland. Both teams have plenty of firepower and, we believe it will ultimately boil down to efficiency. We are backing Switzerland to finish second in their EURO group, edging out Scotland by a couple of points.
