Hungary vs Switzerland

Cologne’s RheinEnergieStadion is the venue as Hungary and Switzerland go head-to-head in their curtain-raising Euro 2024 Group A encounter.

Hungary steamrolled to a top-table finish in qualifying Group G, going unbeaten in all eight fixtures (W5, D3) to a third consecutive Euro tournament for the first time in the country’s history. After a disappointing bottom-place finish at Euro 2020, long-serving manager Marco Rossi has loftier ambitions ahead of this summer’s tournament, especially considering Hungary’s formidable form in the build-up to the showpiece event. Though an unexpected 2-1 loss to the Republic of Ireland in their first June friendly halted their 14-game unbeaten run (W9, D5), the ‘Magyars’ returned to winning ways with an emphatic 3-0 victory against Israel in their last warm-up match. As all three goals arrived inside the opening 25 minutes, the Hungarians could get their Euro 2024 Group A journey off to a flying start.

Unlike Hungary, Switzerland’s qualifying campaign was a mess, as they finished runners-up to Romania in Group I after going winless in six of their last seven qualifiers (W1, D5, L1). It wasn’t an ideal way for manager Murat Yakin to steer the Swiss in their third successive Euro tournament, but he could make amends in Germany. The ‘Nati’ made an unprecedented success at Euro 2020 when they reached the quarter-finals despite only winning once in regulation time (D3, L1). Whether they can do better this summer remains to be seen. But with 15 players from last tournament’s crop on Yakin’s least, the expectations are high. Beating Hungary to kick things off in Group A could prove crucial, which is precisely what they’ve done in both competitive H2Hs in the 21st century.