Gareth Southgate’s men were drawn in Group C alongside Denmark, Slovenia and Serbia. Their first match will be against Serbia who will be making their tournament debut as an independent nation in the summer.
After that, it will be a rematch of the 2021 semi-final against Denmark where Harry Kane scored the rebound of his controversially awarded penalty in extra-time to win 2-1. They conclude their group stage campaign against Slovenia who will be featuring in the tournament for just the second time after their group stage exit in 2000.
Scotland will feature in the opening match against the host nation Germany in Group A at Euro 2024 after qualifying for the competition after Norway lost to Spain on the 15th of October. The other two teams in that group are Hungary and Switzerland in what is looking to be a tasty group. The Germans haven’t won the competition since 1996 and were eliminated in the last 16 after a 2-0 loss to England at Wembley.
On paper, Group B looks to be the most competitive group with the holders Italy competing with three-time winners Spain, 2018 World Cup Runners-up Croatia and Albania. Italy have knocked Spain out of the last two tournaments after a 2-0 win in the last 16 in 2016 and a penalty shootout success in the 2021 Semi-Final so the Spanish will be hungry for revenge over the current champions.
Croatia led by the ageless Luka Modric will also be considered as legitimate contenders for the trophy next summer at Euro 2024. Albania will not be there just to make up the numbers, as they finished top of their qualification group ahead of Czechia and Poland so they might spring a surprise or two at the finals.
France will start as favourites even if the draw hasn’t been kind to them with the Netherlands, Austria and the winners of Playoff A which will be one of Poland, Wales, Finland or Estonia. All three playoff groups will be decided in March to complete the draw sheet.
With Kylian Mbappe likely to lead the line, the World Cup Runners-Up will want redemption for their collapse against Switzerland in the last 16 in 2021 where they blew a 3-1 lead with 9 minutes left to ultimately lose on penalties after a 3-3 draw.
Group E sees Belgium who are going through a transition from their Golden Generation to a young up-and-coming team, will face Romania, Slovakia and one of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ukraine, Israel and Iceland. Belgium lost in the Quarter-Finals in the past two editions and haven’t gone beyond that stage since they lost in the 1980 final to West Germany. The winner of this group might likely face France in the Quarter-Finals if the matches go as they are likely to be predicted.
Group F sees 2016 Champions Portugal face Turkey, Czechia and one of Georgia, Luxembourg, Greece or Kazakhstan. Now managed by Roberto Martinez with Cristiano Ronaldo still as their star man, Portugal will be looking to win the title for the second time following a dramatic 1-0 victory over France in Paris in 2016.
Czechia, the 1976 Champions then Czechoslovakia will likely be considered favourites for the second qualification spot whilst Turkey will be looking to improve on their dismal showing in 2021 where they lost all three group games scoring just 1 goal.
The tournament kicks off on the 14th of June with Germany playing Scotland with the final being played at the Berlin Olympic Stadium on the 14th of July.
Who do you think got the better of the Euro 2024 Draw?
Great article. Think Serbia is a difficult opening match but England should be fine. Very intrigued in Germany and Nagelsmann as they need a really good tournament soon