Germany vs Scotland live updates: Euro 2024 opener early team ...

The 36 group-stage matches will take place across just under two weeks.

There are 12 days between Germany’s curtain raiser against Scotland on Friday, June 14 and the final round of group-stage fixtures on Wednesday, June 26.

So get ready for a lot of football!

The 24 teams have been split into six four-team groups and it is hard to argue against Group B looking like the toughest while Germany, England and Belgium have been handed seemingly favourable draws.

Plenty of time to go before kick-off, but the Germans and Scots are making themselves heard already in Munich ahead of this evening's game.

One of our men on the ground, Seb Stafford-Bloor, was able to capture the playing of bagpipes in Marienplatz about half an hour ago.

Speaking ahead of the match, Germany boss Julian Nagelsmann urged his side to impress their home supporters this summer.

“It's only the second time Germany has hosted a European Championship,” he said. “For the players, and for myself as a manager, to take part in a tournament on home soil is a unique opportunity.

“There is pressure involved, but more so joy. If we can see that joy on the pitch, then we will have a great tournament.”

Conspicuous by his absence in Scotland’s squad is the promising 18-year-old Ben Doak, from Dalry, Ayrshire.

The Liverpool youngster only made 12 senior appearances in all competitions in the first three seasons of his nascent career — and never represented the Scottish senior side, with seven caps for the Under-21s — but he is a loss nonetheless as he misses the tournament through injury.

In a squad perhaps a little light on excitement in attack, he would have been an interesting option off the bench. His injury opened a path to the squad for fellow forwards Tommy Conway and Lewis Morgan of New York Red Bulls.

Conway, who qualifies for Scotland via his grandfather, scored 10 goals in the Championship and netted in his last three games for Scot Gemmill’s under-21 side. Doak would have been a fresh face in the oldest squad at the tournament, which has an average age of 28.3.

GO FURTHER

Liverpool’s Ben Doak out of Scotland’s Euro 2024 squad through injury

Julian Nagelsmann certainly can’t be accused of being in thrall of big names after naming the squad he did for Euro 2024.

Borussia Dortmund duo Mats Hummels and Karim Adeyemi missed out despite being instrumental in their side's run to the Champions League final, and Bayern’s Leon Goretzka — who Nagelsmann managed during his two years at the Allianz Arena — also failed to make the cut.

Those brave decisions allowed room for Leverkusen’s Robert Andrich and Pascal Gross of Brighton in midfield, plus key cogs in the Stuttgart team that finished second, like defender Waldemar Anton and winger Chris Fuhrich.

Welcome to The Radar — the Euro 2024 edition. Each major tournament, we build a scouting guide highlighting the players to watch.

Below, there are 50 players, with at least one representative from each of the 24 nations competing in Germany. We’ve profiled established stars and rising talents, with a bespoke data visualisation for every player, with all our data correct as of Sunday, June 9.

Just click to expand and collapse each card, and you can use the filters to sort players by nation, club or position. They are handily arranged in group order to make it easier for you to get the lowdown on the players who pose an immediate threat to the nation you are supporting this summer.

You can also listen to the corresponding podcast series on The Athletic FC Podcast, profiling 12 of the most exciting young players across both the Euros and Copa America this summer. Click here to listen for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and all the usual places. Enjoy!

Click here to follow Euro 2024 on The Athletic and get relevant stories in your personalised feed.

GO FURTHER

The Radar – The Athletic’s Euro 2024 scouting guide

Goalkeepers: Angus Gunn (Norwich City), Zander Clark (Hearts), Liam Kelly (Motherwell)

Defenders: Andy Robertson (Liverpool), Kieran Tierney (Real Sociedad), Jack Hendry (Al Ettifaq), Ryan Porteous (Watford), Liam Cooper (Leeds United), Scott McKenna (FC Copenhagen), Grant Hanley (Norwich City), Greg Taylor (Celtic), Anthony Ralston (Celtic), Ross McCrorie (Bristol City).

Midfielders: Callum McGregor (Celtic), Ryan Christie (Bournemouth), Billy Gilmour (Brighton), John McGinn (Aston Villa), Kenny McLean (Norwich City), Scott McTominay (Manchester United), Stuart Armstrong (Southampton), Ryan Jack (Rangers)

Forwards: Che Adams (Southampton), Tommy Conway (Bristol City), James Forrest (Celtic), Lewis Morgan (New York Red Bulls), Lawrence Shankland (Hearts).

Goalkeepers: Oliver Baumann (Hoffenheim), Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Barcelona)

Defenders: Waldemar Anton (Stuttgart), Benjamin Henrichs (RB Leipzig), Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich), Robin Koch (Eintracht Frankfurt), Maximilian Mittelstadt (Stuttgart), David Raum (RB Leipzig), Antonio Rudiger (Real Madrid), Nico Schlotterbeck (Borussia Dortmund), Jonathan Tah (Bayer Leverkusen)

Midfielders: Robert Andrich (Bayer Leverkusen), Chris Fuhrich (Stuttgart), Pascal Gross (Brighton), Ilkay Gundogan (Barcelona), Toni Kroos (Real Madrid), Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich), Emre Can (Borussia Dortmund), Leroy Sane (Bayern Munich), Florian Wirtz (Bayer Leverkusen)

Forwards: Maximilian Beier (Hoffenheim), Niclas Fullkrug (Borussia Dortmund), Kai Havertz (Arsenal), Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich), Deniz Undav (Stuttgart, on loan from Brighton).

You can tune in to the action, alongside this live blog of course, using the below TV channels.

The Allianz Arena in Munich, Bavaria.

Capacity: 70,000.

Opened: 2005.

The home of German giants Bayern Munich, it is the country's second-largest stadium behind the Olympiastadion, the venue for the final on Sunday, July 14.

Well. Here it is, on our doorstep: the UEFA European Football Championship, AKA Euro 2024.

1,069 days after the final of the previous iteration, Euro 2020 (played in 2021 due to the Covid pandemic), in which England lost against Italy on penalties at Wembley, the slate has been wiped clean.

We're here to bring you coverage of the tournament that will eventually crown the European champions. But, to get there, we must get through the other 50 games that are being played across a month-long festival of football in Germany.

Oh and, here at The Athletic, we will be bringing you live coverage of every single one of those matches. Up first at Euro 2024, the hosts are in action in Group A as they face Scotland at Bayern Munich's Allianz Arena.

11 hours until the two teams kick off the tournament, so sit tight and enjoy all of our pre-match build up.