European Championship 2024 Group A: Schedule & Preview – Germany, Hungary, Scotland & Switzerland | OneFootball

European Championship 2024 Group A contains host country Germany along with Hungary, Scotland and Switzerland.

Let’s take a quick look at the dates and times these four teams will play each other, their chances of advancing into the knockout stage and details about all Euro 2024 squads.

Euro 2024 Group A Fixtures & Schedule

Euro 2024 Group B: Teams & Preview

Despite their struggles in recent years, the Germans’ quality rises to the top of the group, although this isn’t a straightforward section by any stretch of the imagination.

Scotland’s impressive run in the qualifying campaign makes them a team to watch, while Switzerland could challenge for the top spot, given their decent track record at recent major tournaments.

Germany shared the stage with Hungary in the last Euros ‘group of death,’ where the Magyars kept them winless after drawing with France on Matchday 2.

Germany – Die Mannschaft hoping to channel inner-Neverlusen mentality

Since lifting the World Cup in 2014, the Germans have failed to make it out of the group stage at the last two World Cup finals.

Their last Euro appearance was nearly a disaster as they qualified for the knockout phase by the skin of their teeth, only to be swept away by England in the round of 16.

With the host nation rallying behind Julian Nagelsmann, Die Mannschaft head into the tournament as one of the leading candidates to win the title, perhaps inspired by Bayer Leverkusen’s unprecedented success.

Nagelsmann has announced Germany’s Euro 2024 preliminary squad, featuring the likes of Florian Wurtz, Jonathan Tah and Robert Andrich, who played their part in Die Werkself’s record-breaking 51-game unbeaten run.

As Real Madrid legend Toni Kross gears up for his farewell tournament and Bayern Munich prodigy Jamal Musiala seeks greatness on his Euros debut, Germany look destined for glory.

The three-time European champions are back on track after Hansi Flick’s underwhelming regime, beating the Netherlands and France in their last two warm-up fixtures.

However, becoming the first host country to win the Euros since Les Bleus in 1984 takes more than a couple of friendly victories, with Germany vying for their first continental crown since 1996.

Hungary – Szoboszlai seeking a place alongside Puskas

Since Hungary’s glory days in the 1950s when Ferenc Puskas, ‘the Commander of the Light Cavalry’, led the country to unimaginable heights, the Magyars have been waiting for a new hero.

Hungarian football has been in freefall since the ‘Golden Team’ vanished from the scene, with the country last qualifying for the World Cup finals in 1986.

But they’ve reached the Euros for a third time on the trot after missing out on ten consecutive continental tournaments between 1976 and 2012, registering partial success.

While they stood no chance in the 2020 edition, Marco Rossi’s side enter this summer’s competition with renewed hope after a near-flawless qualifying campaign.

Liverpool ace Dominik Szoboszlai is at the forefront of Hungary’s renaissance. He has earned a status as the nation’s idol for his immense contribution to his team’s unbeaten run to a top-table finish in Group G.

Not even the most optimistic Hungarian fans expect their captain to reach the levels of Pusksas. But they hope he can lead Hungary to a respectable showing and perhaps even a deep run in the tournament.

Scotland – Tartan Army looking to exorcise demons from the past

Scotland’s commendable effort in the qualifying cycle nearly resulted in a top-place finish in Group A, yet Spain’s late resurgence condemned Steve Clarke’s side to a runner-up spot.

However, after only losing once in eight qualifiers en route to their fourth Euro qualification and second in succession, the Tartan Army could feel it’s their time to shine on the continent’s biggest stage.

Manchester United midfielder Scott McTominay was the architect of Scotland’s formidable qualifying run, but all eyes are on Aston Villa skipper John McGinn following a fantastic season in Birmingham.

The two Premier League stars, supported by Liverpool talisman Andy Robertson, will have to join forces to help Scotland progress from the Euros group stages for the first time.

The country’s previous appearances at the tournament have been a catastrophe. The Tartan Army have never advanced past the group stages and only won twice in nine group fixtures.

In search of good omens, one of those two victories came against fellow Group A rivals Switzerland in 1996.

But it’s also worth noting that Germany inflicted one of Scotland’s five defeats at the Euros as the two sides meet again in a curtain-raising fixture.

Switzerland – The country of Rolex must run like clockwork to make the distance

Although Switzerland first qualified for the Euros in 1996, they’ve since become a near-permanent fixture at the tournament, with this being their sixth appearance in the last eight editions.

More importantly, they’ve been more than just spectators, reaching the knockout stage in 2016 and 2020.

Everyone still remembers their heroics from Copenhagen three years ago when they overcame a two-goal deficit to knock France out in the last-16 on penalties.

Inter Milan goalkeeper Yann Sommer, who made a crucial save to deny Kylian Mbappe and turn him into a scapegoat in France, is ready to put on the gloves for his last international tournament.

His captain, Granit Xhaka, fresh off scoring a DFB-Pokal winner to inspire Leverkusen to a historic domestic double, will assume the leadership reins again.

Securing a knockout berth is a bare minimum manager Murat Yakin will expect from his troops after Switzerland navigated their group stage campaigns across the past five major international tournaments.