Germany kicked off their Euro 2024 campaign with a resounding 5-1 victory over Scotland at the Allianz Arena in Munich. The match left no doubt as to which team was the better of the two, and the Bundesteam deservedly claimed the win.
This is the most emphatic victory in the history of European Championship opening matches. For Germany, Florian Wirtz (10′), Jamal Musiala (19′), Kai Havertz (45′ – penalty), Füllkrug (68′) and Emre Can in the dying seconds scored. The goal for the Scots came from an own goal by Antonio Rüdiger in the 87th minute.
Not even 60 seconds had passed when Florian Wirtz received a leading pass from Rüdiger and found himself one-on-one with the Scotland goalkeeper. The visitors’ keeper saved the Bayer Leverkusen striker’s shot, but it turned out he was also offside.
The first goal of Euro 2024 came in the 10th minute of the match. Toni Kroos received the ball in midfield and made another of his trademark diagonal passes to Kimmich, who had taken up a position on the right flank. Kimmich quickly passed to Florian Wirtz lurking around the arc, and the Leverkusen player unleashed a dangerous shot that the Scotland goalkeeper was unable to keep out.
The home fans were ready to bring down the Allianz Arena after the home side managed to deal a second blow to Scotland. Kai Havertz received a leading pass in front of goal, burst into the penalty area from the left and closed for a shot. But Havertz cleverly rolled back to Jamal Musiala, who fired a powerful shot into the top left corner and bulged the net for 2-0.
In the 26th minute, referee Clément Turpin awarded a penalty to Germany, but VAR corrected the referee that the foul was outside the penalty area. Thus, the Bundesliga team was awarded a direct free kick, after which Havertz took a tricky shot, but the Scotland goalkeeper saved.
Three minutes before half-time, Germany missed a chance to deal a decisive blow to their opponent. The ball was crossed into the penalty area, where Gündoğan headed it, but goalkeeper Gunn showed good reflexes and kept his net out of a third goal. The ball still came back to Gündoğan, and a Scotland player made a harsh tackle on him. Turpin initially missed the situation, but VAR called him over to review his decision and he pointed to the penalty spot.
Scotland’s woes were compounded when Porteous received a straight red card for the foul on Gündoğan.
Kai Havertz stepped up to the spot and coolly converted for 3-0.
In the 51st minute, Rüdiger took a dangerous shot from distance, but Gunn was alert and cleared for a corner. Interestingly, this was also the first corner kick of the match. A little later, Wirtz could have scored his second goal of the match, but his volley flew inches over the crossbar.
The pressure from the Bundesliga team did not stop and the fourth goal in the net of the Scots was not long in coming. The substitute Füllkrug got to the ball in the penalty area and sent a real bomb towards the woodwork. It’s a good thing the net survived this 110 km/h projectile.
A quarter of an hour from the end, Niklas Füllkrug sent the ball into the Scotland net once again, but the Germans’ joy was short-lived as the striker was found to be offside.
Shortly before the end of regular time, the Scots pulled one goal back. They took a free kick, after which there was a slight scramble in the German box, and Antonio Rüdiger headed the ball past Manuel Neuer with no chance of saving.
Seconds before the end, Germany scored another goal. Emre Can received the ball around the arc and with a technical shot to the post made the final score 5-1.
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