EURO 2024 - Matchday One: The Roundup
- William Russell
- Jun 19, 2024
- 12 min read
The European Championship 2024 is well underway, and the first round of fixtures for each team has provided us with a great perception of what is to come across the next month.
We have seen fantastic goals, entertaining football, shock results, plenty of early strikes and some remarkable individual performances.
I analyse every game to be played so far - who's performed well, who has room for improvement, and how each team fares ahead of their remaining group games.
Group A - Germany and Switzerland get off to a flying start, Scotland and Hungary seemingly in battle for third
Many people's picks for a dark horse team before the tournament began were Scotland and Hungary, but their respective disappointing opening matches have put their chances of progressing from the group in real jeopardy.
Scotland, in particular, were absolutely woeful against a much superior Germany side. Their defence just couldn't deal with the fluid movement of Jamal Musiala, Ilkay Gundogan and Florian Wirtz in central attacking midfield, as they were torn to shreds in the first half by the tournament hosts.
At times, they weren't getting close enough, evidenced by the first goal, in which Toni Kroos had all the time in the world to pick a cross field pass to Joshua Kimmich, who cut it back to Wirtz to finish from the edge of the box in acres of space.
And at other times, they were too quick to close down in midfield, meaning that their defence was left exposed to the danger of Germany's attackers.
This was apparent with the second goal, when a smart turn and through ball from Barcelona's Gundogan found Kai Havertz through on goal, who set up Musiala to score.
A red card for Ryan Porteous just before the break, leading to a penalty tucked away by Havertz, did nothing to help Scotland's cause, in a half in which they were dominated.
Two brilliant second half German goals from Niclas Fullkrug and Emre Can with an Antonio Rudiger own goal as a consolation for the Tartan Army in between were the talking points in a second half that was very much the same as the first in terms of German dominance and Scottish frailty.
Whilst Scotland can very much be criticised for their performance, with usually reliable players such as Scott McTominay, Andrew Robertson, Kieran Tierney, John McGinn and Che Adams not at the races, Germany's quality cannot be understated.
Gundogan, Wirtz and Musiala were all fantastic and worked well together as a trio; they were organised, fluid and connected in attack.
Gundogan often dropped deeper to collect the ball and spread it wide before crashing the box and attempting to connect on the end of a cross, whilst Musiala and Wirtz floated around interchanging in the half spaces and linking up with the full backs, Kimmich and Maximilian Mittelstadt, who held the width high up.
Wirtz in particular looked to offer a threat in behind, with his constant darts in behind posing a problem particularly in the first half.
But Musiala was the man of the match; his tight control and dribbling was immaculate, as he was a thorn in the side of Scotland all evening long, in a performance he'll hope to emulate in Germany's upcoming fixtures.
Switzerland, with tournament proven players such as Yann Sommer, Granit Xhaka, Manuel Akanji, Ricardo Rodriguez and Breel Embolo, showed with a convincing display against Hungary that they could challenge to make a run to the late stages of the tournament or cause an upset like they did by knocking out France in 2021.
They were the better team for the majority of the game against Hungary, who looked somewhat stage frightened for large parts of the match, particularly in the first half.
Xhaka in particular was fantastic for Switzerland - the Bayer Leverkusen midfielder was very intelligent with his work both on and off the ball, knowing when to break attacks up with fouls and when to risk playing an incisive pass through the lines to create a chance.
That's what happened in the build up to Switzerland's second goal, which was slotted in the bottom corner brilliantly by Michel Aebischer from the edge of the box.
Aebischer usually plays in midfield for his club, Bologna, but excelled at left wing back for Switzerland with a goal and an assist against Hungary, who struggled to create other than in a 20 minute period in the second half.
Liverpool's Dominik Szoboszlai is the only one of Hungary's players to have real experience of playing in big games, but he was kept quiet for most of the match, thus meaning Hungary struggled to create chances.
After their spell of dominance, it was Switzerland's experience that helped them regather themselves in the game and eventually score their third through Embolo.
With such convincing opening performances from Germany and Switzerland, it'd now appear that the Hungary vs Scotland game on June 23rd is paramount for those two teams as to who may be in with a chance of sneaking through the group in first place, unless either of them provides a shock in their fixtures against Germany and Scotland respectively before then.
Group B - Spain looking sharp, Croatia underwhelming, Italy's quality edges them over the line against Albania
Spain asserted themselves as challengers for the trophy by sweeping aside Croatia, in a game that many people predicted would be difficult for Luis de la Fuente's side.
Interestingly, Croatia had more of the ball against their opponents who are well renowned historically for playing a style of football based around possession. But from the first whistle to the last, Spain were the most convincing team, with their blend of experience and youth providing them an excellent side that can challenge to win the tournament.
Lamine Yamal, at the age of just 16, continues to defy the odds by overcoming every challenge thrown at him.
He was excellent on the right flank for Spain, giving Manchester City's Josko Gvardiol a tough afternoon and setting up Dani Carvajal's goal to seal the deal for his side.
Carvajal is another player who performed well. He is streetwise, experienced and a serial winner, having won all he can have won as a Real Madrid player in his career.
He added his name to the scoresheet for Spain with a striker esque run and finish, and if Spain are to succeed, his leadership and experience will be essential in giving them the edge against tough opposition.
Croatia, meanwhile, were poor by the standards they've set themselves in tournaments in recent years.
The midfield of Marcelo Brozovic, Luka Modric and Mateo Kovacic played well to dominate possession, but ultimately didn't provide enough creativity to really challenge the Spanish defence.
In the toughest group in the tournament, Croatia now need to go unbeaten for the rest of the group to have any chance of qualifying, with the Albania match in particular becoming a must win.
Albania's fantastic performance, in which they matched Italy stride for side for the entire game, will give them confidence of qualification from the group, whilst Croatia will be desperate for an improvement otherwise they will finish bottom in the group and subsequently face automatic elimination.
Italy will also hope to grow into the tournament and defend their title after a solid first performance that showed their mental strength and the individual skill of player such as Nicolo Barella - who scored a very well taken winner - and Federico Chiesa that will help them to get the edge over their opponents in games.
Group C - France win unconvincingly as an Ake inspired Netherlands win late against Poland
If you were to have predicted a player to be the creative driving force behind a victory for the Netherlands, not many people would have guessed Nathan Ake.
But the City defender was the best player on the pitch as the Dutch overcame an early scare to win their opening game of the tournament.
Ake was magnificent at left back, setting up goals for Cody Gakpo and Wout Weghorst to overcome an early set back and win.
Without their captain and talisman Robert Lewnadowski, Poland put up a good fight, and even held the lead for a while in the game thanks to Adam Buksa's header from a corner.
But Ronald Koeman's side have quality in abundance in defence, midfield and attack, which eventually saw them take control of and win the game.
But perhaps an unlikely hero was goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen, who's six saves kept the Netherlands alive and fighting in the game.
Verbruggen is very much a modern goalkeeper; playing for Brighton, he is required to fit in with their possession based philosophy and play out from the back, which is something that he excels in.
A top quality goalkeeper such as Verbruggen is required to win a tournament, and with the rest of the team strong, there is no reason to think that the Netherlands can't win the entire tournament itself.
Regarding France, however, their opening performance perhaps argues against their case of taking the trophy away somewhat.
Austria had most of the ball against Didier Deschamps' team, and threatened going forward whilst maintaining strong at the back.
But, like with the Italy vs Albania game, France's star quality, namely Kylian Mbappe, was the difference between the two sides.
The 25 year old's burst of pace and cross was turned into his own net by Maximilian Wober, which unfortunately for him ended up being the winning goal in France's favour.
In 2016, 2018 and 2021, France won their first game by just a one goal margin before growing into the tournament as it progressed, which is something they'll be hoping to do again this time around.
Group D - England's stars struggle to get into gear, Slovenia give a good account of themselves against Denmark
The biggest issue for England's Gareth Southgate is how he manages all of the stars available at his disposal.
A typically conservative manager, Southgate has such an abundance of quality available to him in attacking midfield that he can afford to leave Jack Grealish and James Maddison at home.
But that means he has a huge selection headache with the attacking players he does have, which includes Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden, Cole Palmer, Bukayo Saka, Jarrod Bowen, Eberechi Eze and Anthony Gordon.
It was Saka on the right, Bellingham as the number ten and Foden on the left wing drifting inside for England from the start against Serbia. The former two started very well, but the Premier League player of the season struggled to have much of an impact on the game.
It was Saka's cross that was headed home by Bellingham that gave England the lead early on, in a very impressive opening 35 minutes. Declan Rice and Trent Alexander-Arnold controlled the ball deep in midfield, and Foden did look sharp for the most part with the touches he did have.
The rest of the match, from England's perspective, was abysmal. Serbia were by far the better team, as they tested Jordan Pickford in net numerous times, and the influence of Bellingham and Saka was so much less than in the first half that they were both hooked before the end of the game, for Kobbie Mainoo and Connor Gallagher respectively.
Ultimately, England's issue was that their key attackers didn't exactly work together well as a trio. Gundogan/Wirtz/Musiala is a trio that worked well for the Germans, but the England attackers didn't have the same chemistry in attack.
Bellingham - as good a game as he has and as talented a player as he is - seemed to play like the whole team revolved around him. He was constantly dropping deep and collecting the ball from the centre backs, drifting out to Foden's left hand side and touching the ball for the sake of touching the ball.
Often, this meant he and Foden got in each other's way, and that Foden was often acting as a decoy to allow space for Bellingham. It also limited Harry Kane's impact on the game, with the England skipper having just two touches in the entirety of the first half.
Giving some of Bellingham's freedom to Foden would only be beneficial for England. It'd mean the creative burden was shared across two players, and would mean the opposition have more threats to deal with.
If Southgate is concerned about a lack of balance, Gallagher could come in for Alexander-Arnold to provide more quality off the ball and energy in the press.
England have grown into tournaments before under Southgate, and we can hope that he finds the solution to get the side ticking and their best players purring ahead of the knockout stages.
In the group's other game, it was great to see a Christian Eriksen inspired performance from Denmark in the first half.
The Manchester United midfielder was everywhere in the first period, playing just off his club teammate Rasmus Hojlund as a number ten. He put Denmark in the lead with a brilliantly taken finish, in a half in which they dominated.
But in the second half, Slovenia improved and matches the Danes, deservedly equalising thanks to a deflected thunderbolt from Erik Janza.
Again, like with group B and group C, all four teams will fancy their chances of qualifying, which makes for an entertaining watch for the fans.
Group E - Romania blow Ukraine away in stunning style, Belgium play well but can't score against resilient Slovenia.
After the early matches went pretty much according to the script, Group D was a breath of fresh air in terms of shock results regarding unexpected victories for Romania and Slovakia.
Firstly, Romania, who were excellent all game, cheered on by their raucous support in large numbers, stunned Ukraine with a thumping 3-0 victory.
Their performance was based off the fundamentals of a strong and solid structure - led by a monumental performance from their most recognisable player in Tottenham Hotspur’s Radu Dragusin - and quality in the decisive moments up front.
Their first goal, scored by Nicolae Stanicu, is a contender for goal of the tournament, as he whipped it into the top corner from the edge of the box.
Razvan Marin and Denis Dragus’s goals were partly down to goalkeeping mistakes from the usually reliable Andriy Lunin for Ukraine, but that is to take nothing away from Romania’s build up play for the goals and overall performance that will now leave them confident of qualifying for the knockout stages.
Ukraine, meanwhile, will almost certainly need to get at least four points from their next two games to qualify, even if the third place team from their group qualifies.
They face another unlikely opponent for the qualifying places in Slovakia, who stunned Belgium with a 1-0 win thanks to an early goal from Ivan Schranz, pouncing on a mistake by Jeremy Doku.
But unlike Croatia and even France or England, the actual performance of Belgium should encourage them ahead of their final two group games.
Their captain and talisman, Kevin de Bruyne, had a very good game in midfield, getting himself on the ball and creating chances with dangerous long passes and through balls.
Despite his mistake for the goal, Doku played well too, looking a threat when driving forward and taking his man on on the right flank in the first half and the left in the second half.
Lois Openda made a positive impact off the bench too, as did Johan Bakayoko. But their issue was finishing chances, largely through Romelu Lukaku and Leandro Trossard.
The pair of them made poor decisions in front of goal, which ended up costing the Red Devils. But they're both quality players, meaning they should put their performances straight and improve for their next game against Romania.
Ukraine may struggle to regroup, particularly with their match against Belgium ahead, but Domenico Tedesco's Belgium side should be fine to qualify for the round of 16 by making a few small adjustments.
Group F -Turkey and Georgia provide us with the game of the tournament so far, Portugal show mental strength with win over Czech Republic
It took until Tuesday, but we have seen the game of the tournament so far from the most unlikely of sources, with Turkey and Georgia playing out a thriller.
Neither side held back, as they went at each other playing positive, direct, high intensity aesthetically pleasing football.
Considering that majority of football fans will have only heard of Georgia's Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Turkey's Arda Guler before the game, the quality on show was pleasantly surprising.
Turkey took the lead thanks to a thunderous volley from Mert Muldur into the top corner, with the following raucous celebrations from the large Turkey support epitomising the importance of the fans that he been emphasised at this tournament after reduced capacity at the 2021 Euros.
Georgia equalised against the run of play thanks to Georges Mikautadze, and from this point on the game was reminiscent of basketball, with counter attack after counter attack for both sides to make it entertaining for the neutral.
Eventually, the difference between the two teams was a 30 yard curling strike from Guler into the top corner, which gave the goalkeeper no chance despite the distance from which he struck it.
Georgia pushed and pushed for an equaliser, coming so close numerous times, but eventually a Turkey counter attack led to a third goal to finish the off the game with the goalkeeper up attacking from the corner.
In the group's other game, Portugal put up a similar performance to Belgium - creating chances against a resilient low block but struggling to break them down and conceding a shock goal, but they were eventually able to get the goals they needed to win.
Portugal have numerous excellent creative players such as Bernardo Silva, Bruno Fernandes, Joao Cancelo, Diogo Dalot, Rafael Leao and Vitinha, with the likes of Pedro Neto, Diogo Jota and Joao Felix options on the bench.
They also have the greatest goalscorer of all time in Cristiano Ronaldo, who, at the age of 39, remains a top quality striker, meaning Portugal have all the ingredients required to launch a challenge for the trophy.
They got a stroke of luck for their equalising goal with the Czech Republic's goalkeeper spilling a cross and seeing it deflect off the shins of Robin Hranac and into the back of the net, giving Roberto Martinez's side the momentum to continue creating.
Jota scored late on, but the goal was ruled out due to Ronaldo's initial effort off the post that was followed in by Jota coming when the Al-Nassr forward was in an offside position.
Eventually, in stoppage time, Portugal got another strike of luck that they deserved for their efforts when the ball fell loose to Francisco Conceicao in the penalty area, who smashed it home.
The winning mentality in the group, held by the likes of Ronaldo, Bernardo, Fernandes and Ruben Dias (who was excellent in central defence) is strong in the Portugal dressing room, and getting the win over a good Czech Republic side will spur Portugal on to challenge for the trophy in the late stages of the competition.
Player of the Round - Matchday One: Jamal Musiala (Germany)
Team of the Round - Matchday One: Germany
Goal of the Round - Matchday One: Arda Guler (Turkey) vs Georgia
Best Game of the Round - Matchday One: Turkey 3-1 Georgia
Combined XI of the Round - Matchday One:
GK: Bart Verbruggen (Netherlands)
RB: Dani Carvajal (Spain) CB: Ruben Dias (Portugal) CB: Radu Dragusin (Romania)
LB: Nathan Ake (Netherlands) CM: Ilkay Gundogan (Germany) CM: Granit Xhaka (Switzerland)
RW: Florian Wirtz (Germany) CAM: Christian Eriksen (Denmark) LW: Jamal Musiala (Germany) ST: Denis Dragus (Romania)
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