EURO2024
After the opening: This is how the European Championship Saturday will go
The European Football Championship in Germany has started brilliantly. Photo
© Peter Kneffel/dpa
The European champions are kicking off, and in Berlin, very young people are going to face relatively old people. Fans will also need an extra subscription for the first time at this tournament.
The opening game Germany vs. Scotland is over, now the European Championship is really getting going.
Today, for the first time, three football matches will be played one after the other. It is the usual rhythm of the first two preliminary round match days for the coming days. What to look out for on Saturday.
Who is actually playing?
In the afternoon (3 p.m.) national coach Julian Nagelsmann and his national team will have to watch closely: Hungary and Switzerland, Germany’s next two opponents, will meet in Cologne. Germany will face Hungary next Wednesday (6 p.m./ARD/MagentaTV), and Switzerland on June 23 (9 p.m./ARD/MagentaTV). The first Saturday of the European Championship will be completed by the duels between Spain and Croatia (6 p.m. in Berlin) and between European champions Italy and Albania (9 p.m. in Dortmund).
Which channels broadcast?
MagentaTV will broadcast all three games. ARD will be broadcasting the two later games, Spain vs. Croatia and Italy vs. Albania, live for the first time at this tournament. Christina Graf and Tom Bartels will provide commentary. Late in the evening (11.30 p.m.), ARD will be broadcasting the “Sportschau EM pub quiz” for the first time with presenter Stephanie Müller-Spirra.
Why do certain games require a subscription?
In 2019, Telekom unexpectedly secured the complete media rights for the European Championship in Germany from the European Football Union UEFA, beating out ARD and ZDF, among others. It was not until over a year later that the group agreed on a deal with the public broadcasters.
In a comprehensive contract, Telekom shared a large part of the rights to the 2024 European Championship with ARD/ZDF and in return received broadcasting licenses for all matches of the 2020 European Championship and all matches of the 2022 World Cup. ARD and ZDF will broadcast 17 games each, and twelve games will also be shown on RTL. MagentaTV has five games exclusively, including two from the German group. According to Telekom, the cheapest version costs ten euros and can be booked via the app store.
What should you pay attention to when it comes to sports?
The duel between co-favorite Spain and World Cup third-placed Croatia promises to be at the highest sporting level. The Croatians are still relying on veteran Modric, who at 38 is making his next attempt at a major title in the Croatian jersey. Lamine Yamal is likely to set a European Championship record for the Spaniards. The 16-year-old FC Barcelona striker has a good chance of becoming the youngest player in the tournament’s history. The youngest European Championship footballer to date was the Pole Kacper Kozłowski in 2021 at 17 years and 246 days.