Friday:
The UEFA Euro Cup 2024 kicked off with a bang, with hosts Germany cruising to a 5-1 victory against Scotland.
Saturday:
The following day saw a 3-1 win for Switzerland against Hungary, a 3-0 win for Spain against Croatia and a 2-1 win for Italy against Albania. The first 2 came as quite a shock to many fans, as many fans saw Hungary as a possible underdog this tournament. As for Croatia, for a side that has finished in the top 3 in the last 2 FIFA World Cups, it was certainly a very poor performance, and though many may have predicted a Spanish victory, few could have predicted the scoreline. In Italy’s game against Albania, the game started off with an unexpected goal from Albania in just the 1st minute, but the defending champions managed to come back 2-1.
Sunday
The next day saw Netherlands beat Poland 2-1, a 1-1 draw between Slovenia and Denmark and a 1-0 victory for England against Serbia. Though none of the results were upsets, Poland and Serbia both came closer than most would have expected, and put up solid performances against far stronger teams.
Monday:
The 3rd day of the first group of matches was quite an interesting one. It began with a 3-0 victory for Romania against Ukraine. This was a shock, as Ukraine had been in good form, but they were unable to find the net even once against the incredible Romanian side. This was followed by a major upset, with Slovakia grabbing 3 points against Belgium. Though Belgium created many chances, they were unable to equalize after Slovakia’s 7th minute goal. Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku found the back of the net twice only for both goals to be disallowed, and the match ended 1-0 to Slovakia. France beat Austria 1-0 next, and though they would have been expected to win by a bigger margin, their fans will be thinking about their star player Kylian Mbappe, who unfortunately suffered an injury during the dying moments of the game.
Tuesday:
The final day of the first group of games saw 7 goals in just 2 games. In the first, as expected, Turkey beat Georgia. Though Turkey opened the scoring, Georgia equalized soon after, but a screamer from Arda Guler ensured Turkey got their lead back, and they extended it in stoppage time to win 3-1. As for the next game, all eyes were on Cristiano Ronaldo as Portugal took on Czechia. Surprisingly, Czechia opened the scoring, but scored an own goal to make it 1-1, and Francisco Conceição won the game for Portugal in a thrilling fashion, with a winner in stoppage time.