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Euro 2024 draw: England handed soft group as powerhouses Italy and Spain drawn together

Scotland have a tough challenge ahead after being drawn together with Germany, Hungary and Switzerland

Published: Sat 2 Dec 2023, 10:41 PM

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  • AFP

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Presenter Esther Sedlaczek and Pedro Pinto, Steve McManaman and Gianluigi Buffon before the UEFA Euro 2024 Final Draw. - Reuters

Presenter Esther Sedlaczek and Pedro Pinto, Steve McManaman and Gianluigi Buffon before the UEFA Euro 2024 Final Draw. - Reuters

Reigning champions Italy were placed in the same group as Spain in Saturday's draw for Euro 2024 in Hamburg, while Enland were handed a soft draw in Group C with Slovenia, Denmark and Serbia.

France will come up against the Netherlands with hosts Germany taking on Scotland in the tournament's opening game on June 14 in Munich.


If England top the group and then win the last-16 tie, they could come up against Scotland, Germany, Spain, Croatia, Italy, Hungary or Switzerland.

The luck of the draw did not favour who were grouped together with Germany, who they play in the opener, and Hungary and Switzerland.

Soccer Football - UEFA Euro 2024 Final Draw - Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany - December 2, 2023General view during the draw REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach

Soccer Football - UEFA Euro 2024 Final Draw - Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany - December 2, 2023General view during the draw REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach

Scotland manager Steve Clarke told BBC: "First of all, it's nice to have clarity. You know who you're going to face, you know the opposition and now we can start preparing.

"It's good, you know what you're up against. Nice to open the tournament, nice to be involved in that first game and hopefully we can set the tournament off with a good match. We've got to make sure it's not about the occasion and it's about the match.

"We look forward to it, it's an exciting draw. I don't think it mattered who we were going to get, it was always going to be exciting for us. Nice to be involved in the draw process and looking forward to next summer now."

On facing Hungary and Switzerland Clarke said: "Two good teams, we'll be competitive in the matches and I'm sure they'll be competitive too. It's a good group, an evenly balanced group and I look forward to it."

Tournament takes place between 14 June and 14 July in Germany.

ALSO READ

Full draw for Euro 2024

Group A: Germany, Scotland, Hungary, Switzerland

Group B: Spain, Croatia, Italy, Albania

Group C: Slovenia, Denmark, Serbia, England

Group D: Play-off winner A, Netherlands, Austria, France

Group E: Belgium, Slovakia, Romania, Play-off winner B

Group F: Turkey, Play-off winner C, Portugal, Czech Republic

Teams in Play-off Path A: Poland, Estonia, Wales, Finland

Teams in Play-off Path B: Israel, Iceland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ukraine

Teams in Play-off Path C: Georgia, Luxembourg, Greece, Kazakhstan



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