Euro 2024 Preview: Group A & Group B

Key storylines and players to watch from Groups A and B.

By Patric Ridge

---

More Than A Game will preview each group at Euro 2024, and we’ll be starting off with Group A and Group B.

Credit: Instagram - @dfb_team

GROUP A

The hosts take the first spot in Group A, as is typical at major tournaments, and Germany have plenty to prove ahead of their home competition. Julian Nagelsmann has gone with a somewhat inexperienced squad, though they still have stalwarts Joshua Kimmich, Manuel Neuer, Ilkay Gundogan and Thomas Muller. World Cup winner Toni Kroos, of course, has come out of international retirement to represent his nation — Euro 2024 will now be his swansong in football altogether. Germany, who kick things off against Scotland in Munich on June 14, will be expected to win this group and, while they come into this tournament in indifferent form, the pressure is always on for them to deliver.

dfb_team

A post shared by @dfb_team

Next come Scotland — they qualified ahead of Erling Haaland’s Norway — and Steve Clarke’s team will be backed on by a large and vocal supporting contingent in Germany. They did go seven matches without a win, though, before beating Gibraltar 2-0 in a pre-tournament friendly, and they are going to have to step up that form to progress.

Then there is Hungary. They were paired with Germany at Euro 2020, drawing 2-2 with Joachim Lowe’s side but ultimately slipping out of a group that also included Portugal and France, who they also held to a draw. Prior to their defeat to the Republic of Ireland on June 4th, Marco Rossi’s team had gone 14 games unbeaten.

Finally, Switzerland will be confident of securing second place in Group A — or at least they should be. A heavy defeat to Portugal in the last 16 clouded what had been a decent World Cup campaign in Qatar, and the Swiss knocked France out in the last 16 of Euro 2020 before losing to Spain.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Along with Florian Wirtz, Jamal Musiala is spearheading the next generation of German footballers. Fitting both Wirtz and Musiala into the same team could be an issue for Nagelsmann, but it’s not a bad headache to have. Wirtz has been brilliant for Bayer Leverkusen, while Musiala continues to prove his credentials as one of the most promising playmakers in world football, at just 21.