Euro 2024 begins on Friday night with the first game, but the first full day of football comes on the Saturday. We have three games scheduled to take place, and the first of them is this one, a Group A clash between Hungary and Switzerland. Both sides will be eyeing up second in this group and qualification for the knockout phase, so it's a big start for them.
Hungary Form GuideThe teams in this group, and the fact that third place may also qualify, throws the progression from here wide open. I think there's a case to be made for all three teams to book their place in the next round alongside Germany, and Hungary will be looking to do that. They are a team that sees goals in their games, seven of their last 10 have had over 2.5 goals, and seven of their last 10 have also seen both teams score.
They come here on the back of a good win in their final warm up game, a 3-0 success over Israel before boarding their flight to Germany. Before that, not so good, as they were beaten away at Ireland. However, the bigger picture is definitely strong, their last loss before that was all the way back in September 2022 against Italy.
Switzerland Form GuideSwitzerland are second favourites in this group, so the team most likely to follow Germany through according to the bookmakers, but I think it's really tight. They're a good side, but perhaps lacking the quality we've seen from Switzerland of the past, I'm not sure if they've got a really big game player or a match winner.
The Swiss have played two warm up games in recent days, beginning with a big win but then ending it with a game they drew, but were expected to win. The big success was a 4-0 victory over Estonia, but that was backed up by a 1-1 draw at home to Austria. Like Hungary, recent form has been positive, the Swiss have lost just one of their last 14, a run that stretches back to the end of 2022, and their loss was a 1-0 away defeat against Romania.
Match PredictionI think this will be a very tight game, tough to predict the winner, but instead I do like the chances of goals. Both know a win would make their qualification chances strong, so what I will do here is back both teams to score in this one, and avoid picking the winner.
