Everything you need to know about each group at Euro 2024

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With Euro 2024 just days away, we’re taking a deep dive into all six groups, highlighting the star players to watch, examining the biggest storylines to follow, and offering predictions for how things may play out. Here’s everything you need to know about every group at the tournament.

Group A 🇩🇪🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇭🇺🇨🇭

Scotland’s attempt to record its first win at a major tournament since 1996 begins when it opens Euro 2024 against host Germany. Historic precedent, the sheer strength of Julian Nagelsmann’s squad, and the raucous home crowds make anything less than first place a disappointment for Germany. Switzerland, which beat France on penalties in the last 16 of Euro 2020, and Hungary round out the quartet.

Schedule 🗓

Key question 🔑

Is Germany a contender? The men’s program was in a slump following group-stage exits at the 2018 and 2022 World Cups and elimination to England at Euro 2020. However, friendly wins over France and the Netherlands in March raised hopes that Germany can compete with the world’s best once again.

Players to watch 🌟

Toni Kroos: Jamal Musiala and Florian Wirtz are delights to watch, but Kroos – fresh off winning the Champions League and La Liga with Real Madrid – should be cherished before he retires when Germany’s tournament ends.

Scott McTominay: Perhaps underappreciated for his efforts at Manchester United, McTominay is Scotland’s most powerful weapon. The midfielder scored seven goals – one more than Erling Haaland and one fewer than Harry Kane – through Euro 2024 qualification.

Dominik Szoboszlai: Hungary fans may be concerned about Szoboszlai’s fitness after his form tailed off midway through his first season with Liverpool. At just 23, the midfielder has 12 goals and four assists for his country.

Granit Xhaka: Xhaka’s issues with discipline and concentration seem to be resolved, and he’s thrived since he assumed a box-to-box midfield role at Arsenal. He moved to Bayer Leverkusen last summer and was influential during their historic 2023-24 campaign.

Predictions 🔮

Group B 🇪🇸🇭🇷🇮🇹🇦🇱

Spain and Italy meet again at the Euros after playing each other in the 2012 final, the 2016 round of 16, and the 2020 semifinals. Italy enters as defending Euro champions, but after missing the 2022 World Cup, it’s in a rebuilding phase and without a true scorer up front. Spain has both experience and youth on its side – Lamine Yamal is only 16 – but defending remains an issue. Croatia’s Luka Modric will play at a major tournament for the final time, and Albania will make its first Euro appearance since 2016.

Schedule 🗓

Key question 🔑

Can Italy compete? This team has completely lost its way in the three years since it won Euro 2020. Luciano Spalletti has only called up five players who started in the final at Wembley Stadium, and Federico Chiesa, one of Italy’s best players in that tournament, has struggled to recapture his best form. Italy’s defenders are also much younger than predecessors Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci.

Players to watch 🌟

Lamine Yamal: Still only 16, Yamal is one of Barcelona’s most exciting players and often plays with the maturity of someone double his age. He has exceptional feet and dribbling skills. It’s just unclear how much he’ll actually play at the Euros. But he’s Spain’s youngest-ever debutant for a reason.

Josko Gvardiol: Fresh off a transformative season under Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, Gvardiol is much more than a big-bodied center-back. He can advance the ball as a full-back and even step into midfield. Gvardiol also remains a threat on set pieces. He has big-tournament experience, too, having played in all seven of Croatia’s games at the 2022 World Cup.

Gianluca Scamacca: Italy’s only viable center-forward ended his season with Atalanta with 12 goals in his final 20 matches. Two of those came against Liverpool at Anfield. Spalletti seemed to get a rise out of the 25-year-old after criticizing his late-night video game habits.

Armando Broja: Albania’s goal-scoring burden rests on Broja, the most talented striker in Sylvinho’s ranks, if not the most in-form. Broja’s goal in the June 3 friendly win over Liechtenstein was his first since January. Despite standing 6-foot-2, he’s surprisingly quick on his feet and a considerable threat on the counter.

Predictions 🔮

Group C 🇸🇮🇩🇰🇷🇸🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

This is a favorable group for England. Denmark’s heroics at Euro 2020 while dealing with the emotions of seeing Christian Eriksen collapse to the turf in the team’s opening match seem like a distant memory after a miserable group-stage exit at the 2022 World Cup. Other bumps in the road were felt in Euro 2024 qualifying defeats at Kazakhstan and Northern Ireland. Serbia, which has the small advantage of having two of its three matches in Munich, and Slovenia will seek shock wins against England and Denmark.

Schedule 🗓

Key question 🔑

Does Gareth Southgate know his best team? You can’t leave out Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham, or Bukayo Saka, who’s regularly delivered for England. But then there’s Phil Foden, Cole Palmer, and Eberechi Eze fighting for a starting place. Southgate also faces a No. 6 conundrum after Declan Rice spent the last two seasons thriving as a No. 8 for West Ham United and Arsenal. There are some tough decisions up ahead.

Players to watch 🌟

Benjamin Sesko: The latest in a long line of exciting talents to emerge from the Red Bull stable, Sesko made a promising transition from Salzburg to Leipzig with a 14-goal haul in the Bundesliga. Not bad for a 6-foot-5 forward who only turned 21 when the season was over.

Rasmus Hojlund: It took until Boxing Day for Hojlund to get his first Manchester United goal, but by the end of the Premier League campaign, he’d tallied a commendable 10 strikes. At 21, there’s plenty of time for him to realize his potential.

Aleksandar Mitrovic: Granted, it’s only the Saudi Pro League, but Mitrovic has scored 28 goals in 28 appearances since swapping Fulham for Riyadh’s Al-Hilal last summer. Nobody wants to mark the stocky Serb.

Jude Bellingham: England is blessed with so many watchable players, but the 20-year-old Bellingham established himself as one of the world’s best midfielders after 23 goals and 13 assists across all competitions in his first season at Real Madrid.

Predictions 🔮

Group D 🇵🇱🇳🇱🇦🇹🇫🇷

On the surface, France and the Netherlands look like locks to come out of this group. Les Bleus have talent at every position and made back-to-back World Cup finals. While the Dutch have pedigree, they remain wildly inconsistent and only seem to have success against lower-ranked sides. With six wins on the trot – including a friendly victory over Germany – Austria is the dark horse of the tournament. Poland squeaked through the playoffs just to get to the Euros and will likely play the role of willing participant.

Schedule 🗓

Key question 🔑

Will the Dutch show up? The Netherlands hasn’t made it past the quarterfinal stage of any Euro since 2004 when it finished third in Portugal. The national team even failed to qualify in 2016. There are some interesting players on this team – Atalanta’s Teun Koopmeiners, Paris Saint-Germain’s Xavi Simons, and Barcelona’s Frenkie de Jong are game-breakers – but it lacks solidity at the back.

Players to watch 🌟

Robert Lewandowski: The 35-year-old has a pedestrian seven goals in 18 appearances between the Euros and World Cup, but he’ll have to step up to keep one of the weakest Polish teams in recent years from making a quick exit.

Frenkie de Jong: The 27-year-old midfielder hasn’t had the best time since moving to Barcelona in 2019, and he’s facing a race against time to be fit for the Euros. But he remains important to the Dutch cause. The Netherlands doesn’t have another deep-lying playmaker with his impressive passing range.

Marcel Sabitzer: Forget his short-lived spell at Manchester United. Sabitzer deserves our attention. His all-action play propelled Dortmund to the Champions League final, and he’ll give Austria the same energy.

Kylian Mbappe: Fresh off a dream move to Real Madrid, Mbappe is the most electric player in the field. He can damage teams on the counter and score goals at pace. But he struggled in his only other Euro appearance, recording just one assist in four matches as France bowed out in the round of 16. He’ll be out to set things right.

Predictions 🔮

Group E 🇧🇪🇸🇰🇷🇴🇺🇦

Belgium’s golden generation is gradually receding, while a fresher crop, including Manchester City’s Jeremy Doku and PSV Eindhoven’s Johan Bakayoko, emerges under head coach Domenico Tedesco. Ukraine will be many viewers’ second-favorite team while its players defy expectations during an ongoing war in their homeland. Romania and Slovakia must prove they’re not in Germany just to make up the numbers.

Schedule 🗓

Key question 🔑

Can Romania and Slovakia cause Belgium and Ukraine problems? The underdogs’ hopes of progression to the knockout rounds may rest on the lottery of being one of the best third-placed finishers in the group stage. “When you go to Euros, it doesn’t matter which game you play and against who you play; it’s always the biggest game of your life. So you need to give everything,” Slovakia’s Robert Mak told theScore. “You have, obviously, better countries with better players, but we always, as a team, are very strong.”

Players to watch 🌟

Kevin De Bruyne: At 32 and with increasingly frequent trips to the treatment room, this may be De Bruyne’s last opportunity to win the Euros with Belgium. His right foot remains as potent as ever, and he often becomes more influential as his anger and impatience rise.

Stanislav Lobotka: The Slovakian was a key component of Napoli’s 2022-23 Serie A triumph. His ability to dictate tempo and maintain possession in midfield led to rumors that Barcelona were interested in him earlier this year.

Radu Dragusin: It’s safe to say Dragusin hasn’t been given enough time to show Tottenham Hotspur fans what he’s capable of. He started just four Premier League games after his January move. Still, the defender’s blend of brawn, graft, and pace make him Romania’s key man.

Artem Dovbyk: The powerful yet skillful striker led La Liga in scoring with 24 goals while providing eight assists as Girona surprisingly finished third. The 26-year-old Ukrainian’s stock could rise even further in Germany.

Predictions 🔮

Group F 🇹🇷🇬🇪🇵🇹🇨🇿

Portugal is about more than Cristiano Ronaldo. It has gung-ho full-backs, pass masters in midfield, and young wingers with pace to burn. There’s no reason Portugal won’t win the group. Czechia, Georgia, and Turkey will likely battle for second place. Czechia is in its eighth straight Euro, Georgia is here for the first time, and Turkey will try to avoid a third straight group-stage exit.

Schedule 🗓

Key question 🔑

How far can Georgia go? Reaching a major tournament for the first time as an independent nation is an achievement in and of itself. So Georgia is now playing with house money. It’s clearly not ready to compete with the big boys – it lost 7-1 to Spain in Euro qualifying – but the team has some nice pieces. Goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili is a starter for Valencia, Georges Mikautadze is on Ajax’s books, and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia is a household name after bursting onto the scene with Napoli last season.

Players to watch 🌟

Hakan Calhanoglu: One of the most important pieces of Inter’s Scudetto-winning team, Calhanoglu can fling passes, make aggressive tackles, and unleash vicious shots from distance. He’s a threat no matter where he is on the pitch and a serious runner.

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia: Rivaling Leao’s dribbling ability, Kvaratskhelia can take on two defenders at a time and still find a way through. Expect a lot of action from the 22-year-old. He led all Serie A players in attempts (128) and shots on target (45) last season.

Rafael Leao: Portugal’s most talented player is one of the best dribblers in the game and next to impossible to man-mark. Leao at full pace is a sight to behold. He’s also an excellent playmaker who likes to whip in low crosses. He led Serie A in assists last season with nine.

Patrik Schick: Bayer Leverkusen’s minuteman produced some special moments during their run to the Bundesliga title. He scored four game-winning or game-tying goals after the 90th minute, and his exceptional sense of timing should continue at the Euros.

Predictions 🔮