HAMBURG: Hosts Germany will face Scotland in the opening match of Euro 2024 in Munich following the draw on Saturday.

The Germans, three-times winners, will kick off the one-month tournament in Munich on June 14, with the final on July 14 in Berlin’s Olympic stadium.

The draw was held at the Elbphilharmonie concert hall in Hamburg, one of the 10 host cities of the tournament.

The hosts qualified automatically and 20 teams advanced through the European qualifiers. Three teams are still unknown and will come through the playoffs in March.

The top two in each of the six Euro 2024 groups proceed to the round of 16 along with the four best third-placed finishers.

Reigning champions Italy were placed in the same group as Spain in Saturday’s draw, while France will come up against the Netherlands.

Much-fancied England will meet Slovenia, Denmark and Serbia.

The draw ceremony was disrupted by unexplained noises that competed for attention with the team names being read out on stage.

The interruption, which seemed to sound like sexual noises, was clearly heard for several minutes on the ceremony.

UEFA director of competitions Giorgio Marchetti noted the noise in his commentary before continuing with the draw for the last six places for lower-ranked teams in the 24-nation tournament lineup. The sound continued sporadically until the draw was completed.

Group stage draw:

Group ‘A’: Germany, Scotland, Hungary, Switzerland.

Group ‘B’: Spain, Croatia, Italy, Albania.

Group ‘C’: Slovenia, Denmark, Serbia, England.

Group ‘D’: Play-off winner A (Poland/Wales/Finland/Estonia), Netherlands, Austria, France.

Group ‘E’: Belgium, Slovakia, Romania, Play-off winner B (Israel/Bosnia/Ukraine/Iceland).

Group ‘F’: Turkey, Play-off winner C (Georgia/Greece/Kazakhstan/Luxembourg), Portugal, Czech Republic.

Published in Dawn, December 3rd, 2023