Euro 2024 hosts Germany to play Scotland in opening match | Football News

Italy face a tough task in defending their title, drawn in Group B, where they will face Spain, Croatia and Albania.

Hosts Germany will face Scotland in the opening match of Euro 2024 in Munich while defending champions Italy have been drawn in the same group as Spain.

The Germans, three-time winners, will kick off the one-month tournament on June 14 with the final on July 14 in Berlin’s Olympic stadium.

The draw was held on Saturday at the Elbphilharmonie concert hall in Hamburg, one of the 10 host cities of the tournament.

Germany will also face Hungary and Switzerland in Group A.

Italy face a tough task in defending their title, drawn in Group B with Spain, Croatia and Albania.

France and the Netherlands will face each other again after coming through the qualifying campaign in the same group, drawn in Group D alongside Austria and the winner of playoff A.

England, beaten finalists in Euro 2020, are in Group C alongside Denmark, Slovenia and Serbia.

Group E sees Belgium take on Romania, Slovakia and the winners of playoff B while Group F features Portugal, Turkey, the Czech Republic and the playoff C winners.

The hosts qualified automatically, and 20 teams have advanced through the European qualifiers. Three teams are still unknown and will come through the playoffs in March.

The top two in each of the six Euro 2024 groups proceed to the round of 16 along with the four best third-placed finishers.

In the semifinal playoffs on March 21, Poland will face Estonia and Wales will take on Finland in path A.

In path B, Israel will play against Iceland while Bosnia and Herzegovina will face Ukraine.

In path C, Georgia will take on Luxembourg and Greece will play against Kazakhstan.

The playoff finals will be on March 26.

The draw ceremony was disrupted by unexplained noises that competed for attention with the team names being read out on stage.

The interruption, which seemed to sound like sexual noises, was clearly heard for several minutes on the ceremony broadcast from a concert hall in Hamburg.

UEFA Director of Competitions Giorgio Marchetti noted the noise in his commentary before continuing with the draw for the last six places for lower-ranked teams in the 24-nation tournament lineup. The noises continued sporadically until the draw was completed.

Similar noises disrupted a BBC live broadcast of an English football game in January between Wolves and Liverpool. It turned out to be a prank use of a mobile phone next to the studio.

The groups are as follows:

• Group A: Germany, Scotland, Hungary, Switzerland
• Group B: Spain, Croatia, Italy, Albania
• Group C: England, Denmark, Slovenia, Serbia
• Group D: France, Austria, Netherlands, playoff winner A
• Group E: Belgium, Romania, Slovakia, playoff winner B
• Group F: Portugal, Turkey, Czech Republic, playoff winner C