Here’s Nick Ames’ report from Hamburg and there’ll be more to follow. And finally, Gareth Southgate speaks. He’s fairly low-key about that good England draw, but upbeat at the tournament. “You always feel the same way. The games are not played on paper. All of the teams we play are more than capable. I was really relaxed about all of it. You know the objective is to get out of the group. You can’t tell but you look at Serbia with a centre-forward like Mitrovic and you can’t assume too much. Slovenia was one of the first games I had. Joe Hart made a save that meant I can still be here. We’re now ready to work out the timing of the arriving in Germany, and start to nail down whee we stay. We’re hugely excited to be part of the tournament. We know the expectations, we are getting used to these big games. We hope to give our supporters some brilliant nights.” The Wales manager, Rob Page, speaks. A tough draw if his team gets through the playoff. “We want to face the best team, the best players, the best managers. The players have shown we are more than capable against top teams. If we get through, we have played Holland before and France, and we met Austria in a World Cup playoff and we know what to expect.” The Scotland manager, Steve Clarke, on being drawn with Germany, Hungary and Switzerland. “It was always going to be exciting. [On Hungary and Switzerland] Two good teams it’s a good group, evenly balanced. It will be competitive. We’ve got a really good idea where we will be based and how we will prepare. [On the hosts] They will have to be ready for a lot of Scotsmen to come.” As for the Group of Life: GROUP E, Belgium, Slovakia. Romania, Playoff winner B (Israel/Bosnia/Ukraine/Iceland) The nomination for the Euro 2024 Group of Death is… Group B: Spain, Croatia, Italy, Albania Next best is Group D: Play-off winner A (Poland/Wales/Finland/Estonia), Netherlands, Austria, France Those possible Wales fixtures will be 16 June v Netherlands in Hamburg 21 June v Austria in Berlin 25 June v France in Dortmund Those Scotland fixtures will be 14 June v Germany in Munich 19 June v Switzerland in Cologne 23 June v Hungary in Stuttgart Those England fixtures will be: 16 June v Serbia in Gelsenkirchen 20 June v Denmark in Frankfurt 25 June v Slovenia in Cologne Those full groups again, including the playoff teams. GROUP A Germany (hosts) Scotland Hungary Switzerland GROUP B Spain Croatia Italy Albania GROUP C Slovenia Denmark Serbia England GROUP D Play-off winner A (Poland/Wales/Finland/Estonia) Netherlands Austria France GROUP E Belgium Slovakia Romania Play-off winner B (Israel/Bosnia/Ukraine/Iceland) GROUP F Turkey Play-off winner C (Georgia/Greece/Kazakhstan/Luxembourg) Portugal Czech Republic Wales, should they make it, face what looks a very tough draw. England’s draw looks decent, Scotland’s looks tough, and they will play in the opening match with Germany. That concludes the Euro 2024 draw: full draw below Group A Germany (A1), Scotland (A2) Hungary (A3), Switzerland (A4) Group B: Spain (B1), Croatia (B2), Italy (B3) Albania (B4) Group C: Slovenia (C1), Denmark (C2), Serbia (C3), England (C4) Group D: Playoff winner A (D1), Netherlands (D2), Austria (D3), France (D4) Group E: Belgium (E1), Slovakia (E2), Romania (E3), Playoff winner B (E4) Group F: Turkey (F1), Playoff winner C (F2) Portugal (F3), Czech Republic (F4) Here’s where the playoffs come into play. And the holders, too. A reminder: Italy, Serbia, Switzerland, Play-off winner A, Play-off winner B, Play-off winner C Here’s the third pot, just one to go. Group A Germany (A1), Scotland (A2) Hungary (A3) Group B: Spain (B1), Croatia (B2), Albania (B4) Group C: England (C4), Denmark (C2), Slovenia (C1) Group D: France (D4), Austria (D3), Netherlands (D2) Group E: Belgium (E1), Romania (E3), Slovakia (E2) Group F: Portugal (F3), Turkey (F1), Czech Republic (F4) Wesley Sneijder sets off the second pot. Group A Germany (A1), Hungary (A3) Group B: Spain (B1), Albania (B4) Group C: England (C4), Denmark (C2) Group D: France (D4), Austria (D3) Group E: Belgium (E1), Romania (E3) Group F: Portugal (F3), Turkey (F1) England will play Denmark in Frankfurt in their second game. Pot 2 now Hungary, Turkey, Romania, Denmark, Albania, Austria Giorgio is in full control now, on comes Buffon to allocate the seeds to groups and numbers in each group: Group A Germany (A1) Group B: Spain (B1) Group C: England (C4) Group D: France (D4) Group E: Belgium (E1) Group F: Portugal (F3) England’s opening game will be in Gelsenkirchen. Here’s Pot 1 Germany (hosts), Portugal, France, Spain, Belgium, England Albart pulls Germany into Group A, place 1. A1, if you will. Pedro Pinto invites us to watch the city of Hamburg staging the draw through the user of shipping containers. And now Esther introduces her to the official mascot Albart. Yes, really. Bogdan Kotarlic gets in touch: “As a Serbian I just hope we will avoid Croatia and Albania, the reason is politics, we don’t have the best relationship with those two nations (to say it mildly) and those potential matches could create many problems for everybody involved in that tournament.” Certain measures will surely prevent this happening. Without further ado, here he is, Giorgio Marchetti himself, the master of the draw, to add gravitas. “We are nearly ready for the draw,” he says. Now for the technical part. Here’s the official song of Euro 2024, hot off the press, and this will be a test. It’s a collaboration between: OneRepublic, Meduza, Kim Petras we are told. Oh, but it’s not done yet. That’s something to look forward to…. And here’s the last of all, El Mago himself, David Silva, who is holding the official Euro 2024 ball. Next up: Ricardo Quaresma and Blaise Matuidi. Wesley Sneijder and Sami Khedira – decent midfield pairing. And here come the celebs, starting with Gianluigi Buffon who brings out the Henri Delaunay trophy on behalf of Italy, the holders. “I am very happy to be very with you. We deserved the trophy because we showed the good play.” “Germany is the land of the most important joy I have felt.” Gigi was a World Cup winner with Italy of course in 2006. Nine special guests join us: Angelos Charisteas and Steve McManaman are first. Then from Denmark 1992: Brian Laudrup, who comes out with Tomas Rosicky. David Garrett has his hair in a ponytail atop a headband as befitting a tennis brat or minor member of Dire Straits. And perhaps Nigel Kennedy himself. Their next song is from the Gladiator. It’s tasteful stuff. Now for Pedro Pinto and Esther Sedlaczek, who according to IMBD “is an actress best known for Beck Is Back”. In the Elbphilharmonie the orchestra is in full swing, with Jonas Kauffman on tenor vocals with violinist David Garrett. Their choice of music was “Con te partirò”, as first performed by Andrea Bocelli and with help from Starship Trooper lover Sarah Brightman. You may know it as “Time To Say Goodbye”. English hopes should be high. Let’s see how high they are after the draw. Jerry Spring gets in touch: “I feel your pain sitting through the hoopla. My fantasy England group will have Türkiye (my second home by marriage), holland (we’ve had some great tournament match ups in the past), and Kazakhstan (coz I’m working there now). It’s not too much to ask is it? Cheese…” England in Germany conjures memories of Baden-Baden and Wags but….oh, Gareth Southgate seems to be wise to all that. Alun Pugh gets in touch: “I’m in Karlsruhe for the Bundesliga 2 game against Rostock tomorrow and looking forward to knowing who we are playing next summer after we’ve disposed of the trifling matter of the playoffs. No draw coverage is complete without the obligatory cliche “group of death”. Hope you will put this right soon.” All in good time. Simon McMahon, from Caledonia, reports: “Hi John. After such a long drought, and even with a Covid affected return to tournament football in 2021, I’ll take anybody. Though I’d rather avoid England. And France. Germany too. Probably Hungary and Turkey best avoided. Then there’s Italy. Switzerland. Maybe one or two others. So, as I say, I’ll take anybody. Bring them on!” At this juncture, it’s time to speculate over what the best draw England and Scotland could get. On ranking: England toughest would be: Denmark (19th), Netherlands (6th), Italy (9th). England’s easiest: Albania (62nd), Slovenia (54th), playoff winner that isn’t Ukraine or Wales. Scotland’s toughest: France (2nd), Denmark (19th), Italy (9th). Scotland’s easiest: Germany (16th), Albania (59th), playoff winner that isn’t Ukraine or Wales. If Wales were to qualify, there’s still the possibility that England, Scotland and Wales could be drawn together. Nick Ames spoke to tournament director and occasional Guardian columnist Philipp Lahm. Football should be about more than just earning money. It’s for children, adolescents, lovers of the amateur game, culture, the fans. I would always give a tournament to a democratic country. We must make sure we use next summer to strengthen ourselves, to strengthen Europe. There’s been cause for celebration in Germany. Their men’s (boys’) team lifted the U17 World Cup today. Dates for the diary 14 June Opening game at Munich’s Allianz Arena – Germany versus A2. 29 June The knockout stage begins 9-10 July Semi-finals 14 July The final, Berlin Entertainment on show: “From 5pm GMT today in Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie hall. Hosts are Pedro Pinto and Esther Sedlaczek; music comes from tenor Jonas Kaufmann, violinist David Garrett and three ensembles.” Further housekeeping: Berlin, Cologne, Munich, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Dortmund, Leipzig, Gelsenkirchen, Stuttgart and Düsseldorf are the host cities. And as for those playoffs, to be played in March: Semi-finals – Path A: Poland vs Estonia, Wales vs Finland Semi-finals – Path B: Israel vs Iceland, Bosnia-Herzegovina vs Ukraine Semi-finals – Path C: Georgia vs Luxembourg, Greece vs Kazakhstan Final – Path A: Wales/Finland vs Poland/Estonia Final – Path B: Bosnia-Herzegovina/Ukraine vs Israel/Iceland Final – Path C: Georgia/Luxembourg vs Greece/Kazakhstan Preamble By six o’clock tonight UK time – these things can drag on, though we are told it will take 20 minutes of ball-pulling amid 50 minutes of hoopla – we will know who 21 of the 24 finalists will be playing and where. The playoffs don’t get sorted until March but no matter, there are Black Forest mansions to be booked for those already qualified. How does the draw work? Well, here’s your pots: Pot 1 Germany (hosts), Portugal, France, Spain, Belgium, England Pot 2 Hungary, Türkiye, Romania, Denmark, Albania, Austria Pot 3 Netherlands, Scotland. Croatia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Czechia Pot 4 Italy, Serbia, Switzerland, Play-off winner A, Play-off winner B, Play-off winner C Hosts Germany are seeded in Pot 1 and automatically allocated to Group A in position A1 A further six pots (A, B, C, D, E, F) are required to draw the respective team’s position in each group. Pots B-F contain four balls each to represent the positions available in each group (eg B1, B2, B3 and B4). Pot A contains only three balls for the positions A2, A3 and A4 in Group A, since Germany will occupy position A1. So that’s that.