Hungary vs Switzerland live: Euro 2024 team news and latest build-up

Excitement is building for today’s games, but will the atmosphere of any fixture at this tournament beat that of last night’s opening salvo?

The atmosphere at Germany vs Scotland was years in the making, for numerous reasons.

Here’s a piece on the overwhelming occasion in Munich on Friday evening:

Sandro Tonali is out after the Newcastle midfielder picked up a 10-month ban in October following betting breaches. While Tottenham’s Destiny Udogie is out through injury, as are Nicolo Zaniolo, Francesco Acerbi and Giorgio Scalvini.

Nicolo Barella and Nicolo Fagioli are doubts, although they have returned to full training, so if they do pull through, they could challenge Bryan Cristante for a start.

Sokol Cikallesh missed out on Sylvinho’s squad. While Chelsea’s Armando Broja is likely to lead the line and Inter Milan’s Kristjan Asllani will offer quality.

Italy XI: Donnarumma; Darmian, Buongiorno, Bastoni; Di Lorenzo, Cristante, Jorginho, Dimarco; Chiesa, Frattesi; Scamacca

Albania XI: Strakosha; Hysaj, Kumbulla, Djimsiti, Mitaj; Bajrami, Asllani, Ramadani; Asani, Broja, Hoxha

Spain could make history should Lamine Yamal take to the field. If he does so, the Barcelona starlet will be the youngest player to appear at the tournament at 16 years and 338 days old. David Raya is likely to be on the bench, with Unai Simon more likely to start in goal.

For Croatia, Ivan Perisic recovered from a serious anterior cruciate ligament injury to make his return in the final weeks of the season and is expected to be fully fit for the tournament.

Spain XI: Simon, Carvajal, Le Normand, Laporte, Grimaldo, Rodri, Olmo, Ruiz, Yamal, Morata, Williams

Croatia XI: Livakovic, Stanisic, Vida, Gvardiol, Sosa, Brozovic, Kovacic, Modric, Kramaric, Petkovic, Perisic

He has only scored four goals in 34 caps for his country and is yet to replicate that form consistently in an England shirt but Stones feels Foden could prove the outstanding individual in Germany in the next month.

“Yes, I’m biased, I think he’s absolutely incredible,” he said. “First how he plays the game, so silky playing like he’s in the park. I feel like he has brought so much to his game. Goals, maturity, knowing of situations, his pressing. This season has been incredible for him and I hope and I’m sure he will bring that to the tournament.”

It has been a cruel few weeks for the senior players who have been the stalwarts of Gareth Southgate’s reign. They have been dropped and demoted, their feelings hurt sometimes while bodies have given way. John Stones had been a survivor of the Southgate cull, but there was a moment when it seemed he, too, would miss Euro 2024.

It came minutes into England’s final friendly against Iceland. A stricken Stones went down under a challenge from Jon Dagur Thorsteinsson. “I knew it wasn’t my knee or my ankle, because of the mechanism in how I landed, it was almost like my big toe in the line straight down my foot and you think ‘I have fractured it’,” he recalled.

The curse of the metatarsal has hit England in the past, broken feet, or bones in feet, a factor in summer disappointments. It looked as though 2024 could be a throwback to 2002 or 2006. If Stones’ importance has risen amid the injury problems of Luke Shaw and Harry Maguire, it looked as though Southgate could lose his only centre-back with World Cup or European Championship experience.

On the eve of Euro 2024, Scotland captain Andy Robertson asked ‘what’s the worst that could happen?’ as he reflected on a record of underperformance at major tournaments and the chance to create history in Germany. By half-time on the opening night in Munich, imaginations were being tested at the Allianz Arena as a rampant host nation tore Scotland apart. Three goals down, reduced to 10 after Ryan Porteous was sent off, the worst that could happen against Germany became the fear of six or seven.

A mere 5-1 defeat remained a humbling night, an evening where Scotland suddenly woke up to the chasm in quality between themselves and their hosts. So much for talking up the chances of making life difficult for Germany and having a plan to frustrate them on the opening night. Manager Steve Clarke admitted Scotland “let ourselves down”. Robertson conceded Scotland “got it all wrong” in their first half performance. “We didn’t show up, we weren’t aggressive enough, and we let good players get on the ball,” the captain said.

On the worst possible start for Scotland

If the start to 2006 was a famous “summer fairytale” for Germany, this could be the beginning of an even better story. It doesn’t want for youthful joy, either, as witnessed by the standing ovation for Jamal Musiala. For Scotland, there was only grim reality. There were some familiarities to that, too.

They at least had something like a belated shot, and a goal, to at least make this 5-1. It could really have been so much worse. It couldn’t have gone much better for Germany. This opening game of Euro 2024 had the feel of a properly big event beforehand, as illustrated by Sir Alex Ferguson’s message before a raucous Flower of Scotland, but he had to witness an occasion that solely became about how big the defeat would be. Scotland were fortunate to escape with a mere four-goal loss. Everyone else was fortunate to witness Musiala.

Report by Miguel Delaney in Munich on a perfect start for hosts Germany in Group A.

The undisputed star in the Hungary side, Szoboszlai successfully made the step to the Premier League and enjoyed an impressive start to his first season at Liverpool, even earning comparisons to Steven Gerrard in his first few months at Anfield. A hamstring injury over the winter lingered into the spring and rather stalled his progress, which is a concern as Szoboszlai prepares to lead his country into the Euros. But when fit and firing, few midfielders in the world offer more variety than the 23-year-old, with energy, dribbling, passing and a ferocious strike from distance. Hungary will need a few moments of his magic.

A player who often doesn’t get the respect that he deserves, but maybe that is starting to change after helping Leverkusen to an unbeaten Bundesliga title in what was an unforgettable debut season in Germany. Now 31, Xhaka flourished in his new home after leaving Arsenal last summer and offered important leadership to Leverkusen as they closed in on an historic achievement in club football. His role for Switzerland is similar: this will be Xhaka’s sixth major tournament and his experience will be vital if they are to make it out of Group A.