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Key events
GOAL! Germany 2-0 Scotland (Musiala 19′)
It’s a brilliant start from the home side and a rude awakening for Scotland. From a quick and free move, Jamal Musiala shoots in Germany’s second goal!
18 minutes: Gunn gets half a point on the board in his personal battle with Wirtz, racing to stop the Leverkusen star latching on to a through ball. But Germany Come again …
16 minutes: Ralston’s long ball to Adams is intercepted allowing Germany to win the ball back and stroke it around midfield.
14 minutes: Scotland are playing the ball from the back, trying to get their heads together. The ‘Flower of Scotland’ echoes around the Allianz Arena as fans try to lift their team back up.
Could Angus Gunn have done a little better there? Yes, probably – it wasn’t a roar by any means, but after getting a low shot through a crowd of players, the keeper would have been pretty devastated to let it curl into the net.
Scotland’s narrow set-up allows Kimmich to rise very high and he collects a long diagonal pass before heading to Wirtz. He fires a low shot into the centre, but it spins towards the far post – and although Angus Gunn gets a firm grip on it, he can only push it towards the post and in! At least that’s the first part of my prediction.
GOAL! Germany 1-0 Scotland (Wirtz 10′)
As the clock ticks past the 10-minute mark, Germany lead through Florian Wirtz!
9 minutes: Interestingly, in Gundogan and Kimmich, Julian Nagelsmann has two outstanding central midfielders who do not play in the center. Gundogan is at number 10, with Toni Kroos and Robert Andric behind him.
8 minutes: Kimmich, deployed at right-back, lifts a cross and Havertz heads it back, in that awkward Havertian style of his, but no one in white is there to latch onto it.
6 minutes: Andy Robertson tries to push the ball to Ryan Christie on the left, but it goes over his pass.
5 minutes: Scotland take the lead for the first time and Tierney fires a long shot into the box. Andrich heads over, Germany recover and threaten to break through but Jack Hendrie is on hand to sweep.
“I’m in Edinburgh tonight and it was eerily quiet on the streets on the way into the center to watch this,” wrote Justin Kavanagh. “The mark of a proper footballing nation.” Let’s hope the bedlam comes at 10 o’clock.”
3 minutes: Kieran Tierney outmuscled Jamal Musiala, eventually winning a goal kick when his clearance pucks away from Germany wing.
1 minute: Oh my! Wirtz, looking good on the crossbar, chests the ball and forces an early save from Gunn. Replays show he wasn’t actually ambushed at all, and Anthony Ralston just got out in time.
Euro 2024 gone!
The audience counts down, Clément Turpin plays and the tournament begins. Germany is all white with red, black and yellow, Scotland in a navy blue ensemble with a few bold pops of yellow.
My prediction, not that anyone asked me: Germany scored quite early, but Scotland take one back from a set. They held out until the final 10 minutes, but the hosts grabbed a late winner. Germany 2-1 Scotland.
The teams are out and lined up next to the giant inflatable trophy that still sits in the center circle. Let’s hope UEFA paid for both the removal and the installation. It’s time for the hymns, both sung with equal gusto. Happens!
There is a momentary pause to pay tribute to Franz Beckenbauer, who died in January. His widow, Heidi, carries the trophy onto the pitch and looks touched by the huge cheers from all sides of the pitch.
Get in touch! Some readers have mentioned problems with the mail connection on top of the MBM. If it doesn’t work for you, you can send an email niall.mcveigh@theguardian.com or send me a message via X: @niallmcveigh.
The dance troupe unfurls flags representing each host city, then a giant tarp with “WELCOME TO GERMANY” written on it. Now the crowd gets involved, holding up pieces of paper to make a colorful mosaic around the ground. Sparkles are lit and giant streamers and flags are unfurled before a giant replica of the trophy emerges from the central plinth. And that’s it. Well, at least it was short – and for that we’re thankful.
Here we are! The opening ceremony suddenly came to life, dancers dressed in colorful colors congregating on a platform with a central circle to perform body thrusts and twirl flags. It’s good, but also a bit like someone wrote “opening ceremony” into an AI generator.
There is still no real sign of an opening ceremony, with less than 20 minutes to go. The tartan army prancing in unison provided enough pre-match spectacle. There’s still time to vote in our Quickfire poll, which shows there’s plenty of Scottish optimism.
Which member of the German team was born in Uzbekistan? And what Scotland player wears number 9 for New York Red Bulls? It’s all in our unrivaled interactive guide for every player of these Euros:
“It’s been a long wait [for the fans],” says Steve Clark. “Long day for us too, late evening starts. We will have to defend very well. Can we play the perfect game? Probably not, because no one can. But can we debug? This is what we have to do.
On the underdogs tonight: “We understand the system, the strengths and weaknesses of Germany. People can say what they want. For us this is a game that if we win it will be a fantastic feeling. That’s what we’re going to try to do.”
If there was a trophy for best form on offer before the match, Germany it will be in the bag. Just look at these tracksuits!
Lorraine Kelly has just appeared on ITV off the pitch predicting 2-1 Scotland win and forget Rule #1 of international tournaments.
Germany vs Scotland: the teams
Germany (4-2-3-1): Neuer; Kimmich, Rüdiger, Tach, Mittelstadt; Andric, Kroos; Musiala, Gundogan (c), Wirtz; Havertz.
Subs: Baumann, ter Stegen, Raum, Gross, Fühlkrug, Fürich, Müller, Bayer, Schlotterbeck, Anton, Sane, Henrichs, Koch, Kahn, Undav.
Scotland (3-4-2-1): Gunn; Porteous, Hendry, Tierney; Ralston, McTominay, McGregor, Robertson (c); Christy, McGinn; Adams.
Subs: Kelly, Clarke, Hanley, Shankland, Gilmore, Cooper, Armstrong, Morgan, Conway, Jack, McCrory, McLean, Taylor, Forrest, McKenna.
Referee: Clément Turpin (France)
Here’s how the hosts will line up…
… and here is Steve Clarke’s starting XI.
One hour to start; team news coming in any moment before we head to the arena for the opening ceremony. There will be a tribute to Franz Beckenbauer before some musical guests (who remain curiously anonymous).
Having been deployed under the radar for the 2022 World Cup, football’s equivalent of cricket’s ‘sneekometer’ could play an important role tonight. Nick Ames has more:
Message to Scotland fans, from none other than Sir Alex Ferguson:
What do fans from all 24 countries expect from their teams and this tournament? Find out here. Shout out to the Romanian fan who predicted they would lose all three games conceding 10 goals – that’s the spirit.
One end of the stadium is already decorated with salt shakers – estimated to be around 200,000 Scotland fans traveled to Munich. Here’s Football Daily on how the Tartan Army started the party in style…
ITV have fielded a solid line-up of pundits for the opening match: Ian Wright, Graham Souness and Roy Keane. Their intro montage is a fairytale-themed animation, with Harry Kane climbing Rapunzel’s hair, Little Red Ronaldo and John McGinn in a gilded carriage. Very funny.
Prediction Time: Cast your vote with this handy poll.
Think you know your Panenka from your Piratico? Why not try our 24-question quiz on the history of the euro…
“Hi Niall.” Hello Simon McMahon. “I’m really looking forward to the opening match between these two sides. The land of beer, sausages, ridiculous national costumes and incomprehensible, emotionally repressed men, vs. Germany. COME ON SCOTLAND!!!”
Get in my tactical truck and we’ll take a look at how the two teams can line up. After a doomed experiment with Kai Havertz as left back Julian Nagelsmann went back to basics, recalls Toni Kroos and a switch to a 4-2-3-1, with Havertz likely to lead the line tonight ahead of Niclas Füllkrug.
As for Scotland, they expect to play three backs, with Anthony Ralston joining Andy Robertson on the wing. The engine room in midfield is crucial, led by Scott McTominay and John McGinn, while Che Adams‘ break pace should have picked him over Laurence Shankland.
And here’s Ewan Murray Scotlandwho is aiming to reach the knockout stages of a major tournament for the first time:
There’s no better place to start your pre-match reading than the guides from our network of experts. First, the hosts…
Preamble
Ready? Of course you are. It’s been 13 long summer days since Real Madrid won the Champions League final, but the wait is almost over. We’re about to break the seal of a 30-day football buffet where the games and goals will just keep piling up. You tell yourself that you could, could miss Poland v Austria next Friday, but you know you won’t.
We’re all for it, and if the trophy belongs to the players and the tournament belongs to the fans who will criss-cross Germany’s great footballing cathedrals, then perhaps this moment belongs to us armchair fans. The simple joy of a big summer tournament feels like an increasingly rare treat, so let’s enjoy the moment.
Tonight’s opening, penciled in by the early December draw, feels like a perfect first act. It pits the home side, among the favorites but not yet quite finding that elusive extra gear, against the perennial underdogs in Scotland. Steve Clarke’s side appear to have bounced back from their outstanding qualifying campaign, going from dark horses to outsiders in a tough Group A.
However, if you’re going to play Germany in Germany, this is the time to do it – when the rustiness and first-night jitters can really come into play. All the pressure is on the hosts tonight and the longer Scotland can keep them at bay, the higher the tension in the, uh, Munich Football Arena. Therein lies the path to shock victory – and if you can’t dream now, when can you?
Kick-off is at 21:00 local time, 20:00 BST and we’ll have all the build-up information, team news and coverage of the opening ceremony. Auf geht’s!
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