With all the teams now in action, the second day of the Euro group stage continues on Wednesday. In Group A, all teams will take to the field, and two of them, Switzerland and Germany, winners of their first matches, will have the opportunity to qualify for the Round of 16 with another victory.
Before the two Group A matches, Croatia will face Albania. Defeated 3-0 in their opening match against Spain, Luka Modric’s teammates, who are currently last in Group B, have the chance to bounce back in this group, which also includes Spain and Italy and is therefore called “the group of death” (Beirut time).
4:00 PM: Croatia vs. Albania
The 2018 World Cup finalist team is already with their backs against the wall. Heavily defeated by Spain (3-0) in their first match, Zlatko Dalic’s men cannot afford to make any mistakes against Albania if they want to stay in the race to reach the Round of 16.
Even though they are favorites against the 66th-ranked nation in the FIFA rankings, the Vatreni will need to be more effective in front of the goal than they were against La Roja if they want to win. On the other hand, the Eagles have shown that they can make any team doubt. Against Italy, it took only twenty-three seconds for Nedim Bajrami to score the fastest goal in Euro history.
7:00 PM: Germany vs. Hungary
After the goal festival they provided in the opening match (5-1) against Scotland, the Germans are back on the field to confirm their excellent start. At Stuttgart Arena, Julian Nagelsmann’s men will need to be wary of Hungary. Even though they were beaten 3-1 by Switzerland in their opener, the Magyars are coming off a 1-0 victory over Germany in the Nations League in 2022.
To compete with Germany, Dominik Szoboszlai’s teammates will have to raise their level of play following a very disappointing performance against Switzerland. Moreover, the Nationalelf, leading Group A, can qualify for the Round of 16 with another victory.
10:00 PM: Scotland vs. Switzerland
Can Scotland bounce back? Soundly beaten 5-1 by Germany in the opening match, the Scottish team will need to show a better face against Switzerland in Cologne, in a match that might seem unappealing on paper but is full of stakes.
On one side, the Nati, who arrived with few certainties, showed promising signs against Hungary with a 3-1 win and can envision the Round of 16 with another victory. On the other side, Scott McTominay’s Scotland, currently last in Group A but tied on points with Hungary, needs to earn its first points if it wants to have a chance of advancing past the Euro group stage for the first time in its history.
