Defending champions Italy and heavyweights Spain got off to a winning start in a competitive Group B as Switzerland kept pace with hosts Germany in Group A in Euro 2024.
Euro 2024 Group B: Italy 2-1 Albania
Defending champions Italy came from behind to beat a resilient Albanian side to kick off their title defense with a 2-1 victory.
After just 23 seconds on the clock, Nedim Bajrami put Albania in front with the fastest goal in the history of the European Championships. However, the lead only lasted ten minutes as Alessandro Bastoni guided a beautiful header into the back of the net from Pellegrini’s cross.
Italy took the lead of the game in the 16th minute when Nicolò Barella unleashed a wonderful first-time strike past Strakosha after a weak clearance from captain Elseid Hysaj.
Albania rarely threatened Azzurri’s goal due to a lack of offensive threat but did get the last meaningful chance of the game when striker Rey Manaj had a goal-bound shot saved beautifully by Gianluigi Donnarumma. The scoreline ended 2-1 in favor of the Italians.
Euro 2024 Group B: Spain 3-0 Croatia
Alvaro Morata, Fabian Ruiz, and Dani Carvajal were all on target as Spain beat Croatia in their Euro 2024 opener.
In a game that lacked game-mouth action during much of the first half, the game came to life at the half-hour mark, when Alvaro Morata made a darting run into the box and was expertly found by Fabian to put La Roja in the lead.
The Spaniards didn’t have to wait long to extend their lead, doing so just three minutes later when Fabian put the ball in the back of the net after a neat work by Yamal in the buildup.
The game was put to bet in first-half injury time when Dani Carvajal scored his first-ever international goal after a well-worked short corner. The Real Madrid defender poked the ball inside the net after a wonder ball by Yamal into the near post.
Lamine Yamal made Euro history as he became the youngest player in a La Roja win at 16.
Euro 2024 Group A: Hungary 1-3 Switzerland
Switzerland had a somewhat comfortable afternoon at Cologne, beating Hungary 3-1.
Kwadwo Duah scored his first-ever goal for Switzerland after just 12 minutes on the clock. The goal was initially disallowed for offside but after a brief VAR check, the goal was allowed to stand.
Switzerland doubled their advantage at the stroke of half-time thanks to a fine finish from Michel Aebischer.
Hungary had no intentions of giving up and were rewarded for their efforts midway through the second period when Barnabas Varga guided a beautiful header into the net from Dominik Szoboszlai’s cross.
As Hungary went all out in search of an equalizer, the Swiss put the game to bed when Breel Embolo pounced on a defensive mistake, putting the game beyond the reach of Hungary.
Mohd Faisal Hakak is a sports author from Kashmir. He likes to keep tabs on the sporting world with a keen interest in football, motorsports, NBA, and other marquee sports. He is a science graduate from Islamia College Srinagar.
