Croatia vs Albania LIVE: Euro 2024 team news, line-ups and more ahead of Group B match today

If the start to 2006 was a famous “summer fairytale” for Germany, this could be the beginning of an even better story. It doesn’t want for youthful joy, either, as witnessed by the standing ovation for Jamal Musiala. For Scotland, there was only grim reality. There were some familiarities to that, too.

They at least had something like a belated shot, and a goal, to at least make this 5-1. It could really have been so much worse. It couldn’t have gone much better for Germany. This opening game of Euro 2024 had the feel of a properly big event beforehand, as illustrated by Sir Alex Ferguson’s message before a raucous Flower of Scotland, but he had to witness an occasion that solely became about how big the defeat would be. Scotland were fortunate to escape with a mere four-goal loss. Everyone else was fortunate to witness Musiala.

There was a real symbolism to how he and the effervescent Florian Wirtz both scored to win the game in the opening 20 minutes, particularly with the sheer abandon of Musiala’s strike. The 21-year-old – to use head coach Julian Nagelsmann’s line before the game – certainly rocked. This was the impetuous arrival of a brilliant new German generation, but they were already away before the opposition even had time to think. That might be a common feeling by the end of this tournament, as Nagelsmann’s thrillingly synchronised team announced themselves as proper contenders.

Euro 2024 hosts Germany will look to build more momentum after their thumping opening win over Scotland as they take on Hungary in Group A.

Julian Nagelsmann’s side now head to Dortmund to take on Hungary, who beat Germany away from home in the Nations League two years ago.

Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the Group A match.

It only took Luka Modric 18 years. In 2006, the summer before Lamine Yamal was born, he was an unused substitute against Brazil at Berlin’s Olympiastadion. He didn’t quite get on the pitch then – blame manager Zlatko Kranjcar for that one – but a remarkable longevity took him back to Berlin, into historic company. For the Croatia captain, playing in a ninth major tournament meant he joined only Cristiano Ronaldo and Lothar Matthaus among Europeans. A few months before his 39th birthday, he became the oldest ever player at European Championships; though perhaps only for a few days, until Ronaldo and Pepe go past him.

A day of record-breakers, however, became an advertisement for youth, rather than experience. Lamine Yamal, the youngest footballer ever at this level, some 22 years Modric’s junior, delivered a star turn. Croatia lost 3-0 to Spain. It wasn’t quite as dramatic a case of a glorious career ending at the Olympiastadion as Zinedine Zidane’s, later in the 2006 World Cup, but it was a day to prompt questions. Are Croatia, finally, too old? Will time eventually catch up with the timeless Modric, boyish as his physique remains, baggy as the shorts are?

A central-midfield trio with a combined 375 caps can still pass, but perhaps they can’t press. As Spain had less of the ball than in the past, Croatia did not get close enough to them. “We weren’t aggressive enough,” said manager Zlatko Dalic. “We were too slow and too far from the players.” He felt the problem was most apparent on the flanks, not his veteran midfield, but a product of ageing can be a reluctance to get closer to younger, faster players. A problem of ageing is that every defeat gets attributed to the possibility of decline. This might simply be “a bad day”, as Dalic said. Or it could prove something symbolic, the end of an era.

Croatia go into the second game of their Euro 2024 campaign knowing only a win is an acceptable result as they chase qualification for the round of 16.

They will know that, despite having arguably the toughest group in the tournament, they have a great chance of making the next round if they can sneak a win against their Balkan neighbours.