Hosts Germany have become the first team to qualify for the knockout phase of Euro 2024 following a 2-0 victory over Hungary on Wednesday. Germany, who began the tournament with a 5-1 demolition of Scotland, continued their strong form with a win over Hungary in Stuttgart. Goals from Jamal Musiala and Ilkay Gundogan secured the win, with Musiala opening the scoring midway through the first half and Gundogan doubling the lead in the 67th minute.
Julian Nagelsmann’s team, having a perfect six points from two games, are certain to progress to the last 16, at least as runners-up in Group A. Despite Hungary putting up a fight, Germany’s quality in the final third proved decisive. Musiala’s opener came after Gundogan, the captain, tenaciously pursued a lost cause in the box. Gundogan later finished off an assist from Maximilian Mittelstaedt to seal the victory.
Hungary’s chances of progressing are now slim. Meanwhile, in the other Group A match, Switzerland and Scotland played out a 1-1 draw in Cologne.
Scotland, backed by a large and vocal support, took an early lead when Callum McGregor set up Scott McTominay, whose shot deflected off Fabian Schaer into the net. Switzerland equalised through Xherdan Shaqiri, who capitalised on a stray pass by Anthony Ralston to smash a superb first-time strike into the net.
Despite Switzerland’s Dan Ndoye missing a glorious second-half chance and Breel Embolo having a goal disallowed for offside, Scotland held on for a deserved draw. Grant Hanley almost won it for Scotland, hitting the post with a late header.
Switzerland, quarter-finalists at Euro 2020, may already have enough points to progress but need a draw against Germany on Sunday to secure second place. Scotland can still qualify with a win over Hungary in Stuttgart.
In Group B, Albania’s Klaus Gjasula scored at both ends, including a dramatic injury-time equaliser, in a 2-2 draw with Croatia in Hamburg. After a 3-0 loss to Spain in their opener, Croatia found themselves behind again when Qazim Laci gave Albania an early lead. Croatia improved after the break, with Andrej Kramaric equalising before Gjasula put through his own net. Gjasula redeemed himself by scoring a last-gasp equaliser.
Croatia, World Cup semi-finalists in 2022, will likely need to win their final Group B match against holders Italy on 24 June to reach the knockout phase for a fifth straight major tournament.
Albania, despite impressive performances against Italy and Croatia, have struggled to hold leads and will probably need to beat Spain to keep their last-16 hopes alive.
On Thursday, group rivals Spain and Italy meet in Gelsenkirchen in the standout tie, while England face Denmark and Slovenia take on Serbia in Group C.
