Hungary and Switzerland kick off their UEFA EURO 2024 campaign at the Koln Stadium in the opening round of Group A games. Having performed creditably at the tournament in both 2016 (reaching the knockout stages) and, in a tough group at Euro 2020, Hungary will seek to kick off their latest campaign with a first win in 26 years against Switzerland, who made it to the last eight for the first time at Euro 2020. Here’s what you need to know.
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How to watch and odds
- Date: Saturday, June 15 | Time: 9 a.m. ET
- Location: RheinEnergieStadion — Koln, Germany
- Stream: Fubo (Try for free)
- Odds: Hungary +240; Draw +210; Switzerland +125
Group A
Germany and Scotland complete Group A and they will played the opening game of the tournament on Friday, June 14. This is Hungary’s fifth Euro appearance. After going 44 years without qualifying between 1972, when they finished fourth, and 2016, Hungary have now made it to their third tournament in a row. At Euro 2020 Hungary failed to get out of their group, finishing fourth in Group F despite draws against France (1-1) and Germany (2-2). They lost 3-0 to holders Portugal in their opening fixture.
The Swiss made their finals debut at Euro 96 and have qualified a further five times since: Euro 2024 is their fifth finals in the last six editions of the tournament. Switzerland produced their best performance at Euro 2020, progressing in third place from Group A having finished level with Wales on four points, five behind Italy. They then stunned world champions France in the round of 16, winning 5-4 on penalties after a 3-3 draw before bowing out to Spain in the last eight, also on spot kicks, losing 3-1 after a 1-1 draw.
Team news
Hungary: Hungary star Dominik Szoboszlai was forced off in the friendly game over Israel with a minor hamstring issue, but the Liverpool midfielder is ready to start in an advanced role alongside Roland Sallai. Italian coach Marco Rossi is expected to deploy a 3-4-2-1 formation with Adam Lang, Willi Orban and Attila Szalai all lining up in central defence, protecting goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi.
Possible Hungary XI: Gulacsi; Lang, Orban, Szalai; Nego, A. Nagy, Schafer, Kerkez; Szoboszlai, Sallai; Vargas.
Switzerland: Names such as captain Granit Xhaka, Manuel Akanji and Xherdan Shaqiri are all expected to start, as is Burnley striker Zeki Amdouni, who has scored seven goals in 15 international appearances. Monaco duo Breel Embolo and Denis Zakaria have both shaken off injury issues to take part in team training this week but aren’t expected to make it into the starting lineup.
Possible Switzerland XI: Sommer; Schar, Akanji, Rodriguez; Widmer, Freuler, Xhaka, Ndoye; Shaqiri, Vargas; Amdouni.
Prediction
These are two good teams, but I don’t expect them to win their first game of the tournament. Hungary should not be underestimated, considering their last performances in this competition. Pick: Hungary 1, Switzerland 1.
