Euro 2024 will kick off on Friday 14th June 2024 at 8pm (BST), when hosts Germany welcome Scotland in Group A.
The game will take place at the Munich Football Arena (Allianz Arena), the home of FC Bayern Munich which has a capacity of 66,000.
This famous stadium notably hosted the 2012 UEFA Champions League final and the Euro 2020 quarter-final.
Match Preview & Prediction
This game will be the very first at Euro 2024, the long wait is over and we’ll finally get the competition underway.
Germany have won the Euro’s three times, winners in 1972, 1980 and 1996, whilst they’ve also been runners-up on three occasions. They hold a good record in this tournament, they’ve only finished out of the top eight three times, in 2000, 2004 and most recently 2020.
Outright Winner - Germany
The DFB-Team will be looking to prove many people wrong in this tournament, there’s a lot of pressure on this German side given their on home soil but I have them clear favourites to win this group, Julian Nagelsmann side should have a fairly comfortable group stage campaign.
Scotland made it back-to-back Euro tournaments under Steve Clarke, they finished their qualifying group in second place, runners-up to European giants Spain. The Tartan Army haven’t won a game in this competition since 1996, they head into this campaign with the confidence and hope of causing a few upsets on the way.
The Scots share Group A with the hosts Germany, Switzerland and Hungary, as mentioned, I think Germany should walk this group and finish first.
Realistically, Scotland might fancy their chances of qualifying via the third best team route but they’ll definitely have a go here and hope to defy the betting odds, I just feel this is a tough ask for Steve Clarke’s side and Germany will get the tournament underway with all three points.
Scotland vs Germany History
These two sides have met seventeen times over the years (Including games v West Germany), the Germans have managed a victory in eight of them, whilst the Scots have taken a victory in five.
The first game between the two nations was in 1929 as they played out a 1-1 draw in an international friendly.
Focusing on more recent times, they’ve come head-to-head four times since the turn of the millennium, Germany won three of those four and again, they played out a 1-1 draw in the remaining match.
In those four games, both teams have found the back of the net, including those two brilliant games in the Euro qualifiers back in 2014 and 2015, so there’s a little glimmer of hope for Scotland.
Germany v Scotland Betting Odds
The sports betting odds have Germany as the favourites to get their campaign off with a victory, at the time of writing, Germany are currently 2/9 to take all three points.
Double Chance - Draw or Scotland
Scotland will be looking to cause an upset here and give the Germans a nightmare start in their home tournament, they are 12/1 to do just that.
You can find the latest odds for Scotland v Germany here.
Germany Squad Euro 2024
Goalkeepers:
Oliver Baumann (Hoffenheim), Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich) and Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Barcelona).
Defenders:
Waldemar Anton (Stuttgart), Benjamin Henrichs (RB Leipzig), Robin Koch (Eintracht Frankfurt), Max Mittelstadt (Stuttgart), David Raum (RB Leipzig), Antonio Rudiger (Real Madrid), Nico Schlotterbeck (Borussia Dortmund), and Jonathan Tah (Bayer Leverkusen).
Midfielders:
Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich), Robert Andrich (Bayer Leverkusen), Chris Fuhrich (Stuttgart), Pascal Gross (Brighton), Ilkay Gundogan (Barcelona), Toni Kroos (Real Madrid), Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich), Leroy Sane (Bayern Munich), Aleksandar Pavlovic (Bayern Munich) and Florian Wirtz (Bayer Leverkusen).
Forwards:
Maximilian Beier (Hoffenheim), Niclas Fullkrug (Borussia Dortmund), Kai Havertz (Arsenal), Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich) and Deniz Undav (Stuttgart).
Scotland Squad Euro 2024
Goalkeepers:
Zander Clark (Hearts), Craig Gordon (Hearts), Angus Gunn (Norwich City) and Liam Kelly (Motherwell).
Defenders:
Liam Cooper (Leeds United), Grant Hanley (Norwich City), Jack Hendry (Al-Ettifaq), Scott McKenna (Copenhagen), Ryan Porteous (Watford), Anthony Ralston (Celtic), Andy Robertson (Liverpool), John Souttar (Rangers), Greg Taylor (Celtic), Ross McCrorie (Bristol City) and Kieran Tierney (Real Sociedad).
Midfielders:
Stuart Armstrong (Southampton), Callum McGregor (Celtic), Ryan Jack (Rangers), Ryan Christie (Bournemouth), Billy Gilmour (Brighton), John McGinn (Aston Villa), Kenny McLean (Norwich City) and Scott McTominay (Manchester United).
Forwards:
Che Adams (Southampton), Ben Doak (Liverpool), James Forrest (Celtic) and Lawrence Shankland (Hearts).
Scotland and Germany Euro 2024 Predictions
Here are my Euro 2024 predictions for these two nations.
Germany – I think Germany will top this group, they’ll then play the runners-up of Group C, if they advance through into the next stage, they could meet Spain in the quarter-final and potentially Netherlands or Portugal in the semi-final.
I think if Germany can keep the momentum and confidence throughout the tournament, with the home crowd behind them, they could secure themselves a place in the final. In terms of the Euro 2024 odds, the Germans are currently 11/4 to reach the final.
Scotland – Steve Clarke’s side will of course be hoping to qualify from this group but it’s likely if they are to do so, it’ll come via the third-place route resulting in a number of scenarios in terms of their opponents in the round of 16, they would definitely meet a group winner though and I feel like that would be a step too far for Scotland.
*Credit for the main photo belongs to Alamy*
