England frustrate; the Scots cling in on: Euro 2024 matchday two roundup

The second set of Euro 2024 matches has concluded, and with it came more drama, more passion, and even more own goals. Germany and Portugal were dominant and clinical, England and France were toothless and fortunate, and Croatia and Scotland find themselves in serious trouble.

Germany have emerged as the pace setters at this early stage of the tournament, comfortably dispatching a Hungary team who are still without points. Jamal Musiala continues to shine, and this is starting to look like a tournament where Musiala could stake his claim as one of the best players in the world. Hungary still have a slim hope of qualifying for the knockout stages but will have to beat a feisty Scottish side in their final group game.

The Tartan Army finally had something to shout about when they drew 1-1 with Switzerland thanks to a Scott McTominay goal. It gives them a valuable point towards qualification, but Scotland will still need to secure all three points against Hungary to qualify, a tall order despite Hungary’s poor form.

In Group B, Albania struck a late equalizer against Croatia – leaving Luka Modric and his men bottom of the group and with a mountain to climb against Italy in their final group game.

England’s performance against Denmark left a lot to be desired, as the star-studded line-up staggered to a limp 1-1 draw

Two of the tournament’s best teams clashed when Spain and Italy met, with Spain coming out slim victors with a 1-0 victory. Nonetheless, the scoreline didn’t reflect the dominance Spain had, with young wingers Nico Williams and Lamine Yamal causing chaos for Italy’s defence.

England’s performance against Denmark left a lot to be desired, as the star-studded line-up staggered to a limp 1-1 draw. England took the lead early with Harry Kane, but the same issues reared their ugly heads as the team sat deep and attempted to defend their narrow lead. Yet, unlike against Serbia last week, England were unsuccessful in their aim, with Denmark equalising shortly after. England’s qualification to the knockout stages is all but confirmed, but it could take victory against Slovenia in their next game to avoid Germany in the Round of 16. Even then, England’s performances hardly inspire chants of ‘It’s Coming Home’ in living rooms across the country right now.

As for the other two teams in Group C, Slovenia drew to Serbia after a late Serbian equaliser sparked some of the wildest celebrations of the tournament so far.

Poland became the first team to be eliminated from the European Championship as they were defeated by a very impressive Austrian side. Austria meet the Netherlands in their next game, needing at least a draw to be secure in their hopes of qualification.

Group E sets up a mouth-watering conclusion, as any of Romania, Belgium, Slovakia, and Ukraine could both still qualify or be eliminated from the tournament

The Netherlands played a France side without their star man, Kylian Mbappé – now sporting a mask to protect his broken nose (although said protective-wear will not sport the Tricolore colours – his red, white, and blue mask was banned by UEFA for violating regulations). The game ended 0-0, although a Netherlands goal was controversially disallowed after a lengthy VAR break from an English refereeing team. France haven’t produced a convincing display in this tournament yet but can still top their group by beating Poland comfortably in their next game.

Group E sets up a mouth-watering conclusion, as any of Romania, Belgium, Slovakia, and Ukraine could both still qualify or be eliminated from the tournament. Ukraine came from behind to beat Slovakia 2-1, and Belgium finally found some form and beat Romania 2-0 – although Romelu Lukaku continues being seemingly allergic to staying onside when scoring goals, having seen a third goal in two game disallowed for the offence.

In Group F, Georgia are still in with a chance of qualifying for their first ever knock-out stage at a major tournament, but they will have to beat Portugal in their last game after a 1-1 draw with Czechia; both Czechia and Georgia have a single point going into the final set of games. Meanwhile, Portugal are all but assured to have first place in Group F after a comfortable victory against Turkey – although they were helped along by a disastrous miscommunication between Turkish goalkeeper Altay Bayindir and his defender Samet Akaydin, with the balling ending up in their own net and extending Portugal’s lead.

Cristiano Ronaldo is still goalless despite playing every minute of the tournament so far, but unselfishly set up a goal for Bruno Fernandes – an encouraging sign for those who believe Portugal’s all-time top goal scorer could be one of their limiting factors this tournament.