Euro 2024 kicks off on Friday in Germany as the continent's footballing heavyweights prepare to fight it out over the next month with the aim of taking the crown away from reigning champions Italy.
Germany play Scotland in the opening game in Munich and the host nation are hoping their journey will continue all the way to the final in Berlin on July 14.
It is the first time the country has hosted a major men's international tournament since the 2006 World Cup, and it is a mouth-watering setting after the underwhelming nature of the last European Championship.
It was also staged in cities all across the continent, from Seville to Baku, and those factors stripped away much of what makes these tournaments so special. This time all supporters will descend on Germany, where matches will be played in 10 stadiums, from Hamburg in the north to Munich in the south. Germans are hoping for a repeat of 2006, when many fell in love with their national team again after a period in the doldrums similar to what they have experienced in the years leading up to this competition.
The tournament begins less than a week after far-right parties made significant gains in EU parliament elections, while Europe is still dealing with the crisis of the war in Ukraine.
A good performance by Germany on the field would help, and the outlook is more positive for Julian Nagelsmann's team now than a few months ago. A group also containing Hungary and Switzerland should be straightforward enough given the quality in Germany's ranks, from veteran playmaker Toni Kroos to younger stars Florian Wirtz and Jamal Musiala. "We have gone through difficult phases as a national team, but
something big can happen here," Musiala, of Bayern Munich, told Sportbild.
