Competing nations at next summer's UEFA European Championships in Germany found out their group-stage opponents this past Saturday as the draw for the tournament was held in Hamburg.
21 out of the allocated 24 teams have secured qualification for Euro 2024 and the remaining three spots are set to be decided among 12 nations in the play-offs next March.
Most of the managers from the competing national sides were in attendance at the draw including England boss Gareth Southgate. The Three Lions reached the final of Euro 2020, where they lost to Italy on penalties at Wembley Stadium so they will be hoping to go one better at Euro 2024 next summer.
Southgate's men have been drawn alongside Denmark, Serbia and Slovenia in Group C, with their tournament kicking off on June 16th against Serbia in Gelsenkirchen. England's game against Denmark will be a rematch of the semi-final clash between the two nations from the last European Championships, where England were victorious, winning 2-1 in extra time.
England will go into Euro 2024 as one of the tournament favourites due to the level of quality they possess, with captain Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka, Phil Foden, Marcus Rashford and Declan Rice just some of the stars available to Southgate. Also, having reached the final of the last European Championships, there is an expectation for England to finally win the nation's first major trophy since 1966.
Despite the draw being mostly favourable to England, Southgate warned of complacency. He told Sky Sports News: "You have to be very careful not to underestimate the opponents that you have. I've seen a lot of teams that were fancied and well-ranked going into tournaments and not deliver in their group."
The England manager added: "We've had consistency of performance and results, but a new tournament means a new challenge and the first objective is to get out of the group again. We know there's still a step we want to take and that's what drives us."
Scotland have been handed a tough draw as they will face off against the hosts Germany in the opening game of the tournament on June 14th in Munich. Joining both sides in Group A are Hungary and Switzerland.
Scotland competed at the last European Championships but failed to advance from the group stage and scored just one goal at the tournament. However, Steve Clarke's side will feel more optimistic about their chances at Euro 2024 as they had an impressive qualifying campaign, winning five out of eight games, including a 2-0 win over Spain earlier this year.
After the draw, Clarke gave his reaction to Sky Sports News, saying: "The draw is what it is. I've got to go away and do some homework, look at the opposition and prepare the team properly, that's the most important thing."
Clarke went on to add: "The good thing about the draw is we now have clarity - we know who we play and when we play them so we can prepare for it. All the matches in the group will be competitive. It'll be a tough group and we look forward to the challenge."
Group B is set to be another competitive group as it will contain the holders, Italy, in addition to Spain, Croatia and Albania. Both Spain and Albania topped their qualifying groups whilst Croatia have plenty of experience in getting to the latter stages of major international tournaments, having finished as runners-up and in third place at the past two editions of the FIFA World Cup.
Group D will contain two strong nations – France and Netherlands – with Austria and the winner of playoff Path A, which consists of Poland, Wales, Finland and Estonia, forming the rest of the group. France are set to be one of the strong favourites to win in Germany next summer, having reached the final of three of the last four major international tournaments, with World Cup glory coming in 2018.
Group E contains Belgium, Slovakia, Romania and the winner of playoff Path B, consisting of Israel, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ukraine and Iceland. Group F will see Euro 2016 champions, Portugal, in action and they will compete against Turkey, the Czech Republic and the winner of playoff Path C, which is between Georgia, Greece, Kazakhstan and Luxembourg.
It could be the last time we see Portugal icon Cristiano Ronaldo at a major tournament for his country as the forward will be 39 by the time Euro 2024 kicks off. Portugal will be another of the strong favourites for the tournament as Ronaldo is joined by other stars such as Bruno Fernandes, Bernardo Silva, Joao Felix and Ruben Dias.
The top two teams from each of the six groups will be guaranteed a place in the knockout stages whilst the four best third-placed nations will also secure a place in the last 16.
The final will take place on July 14th at the Olympiastadion in Berlin.
