Euro 2024 today: Who is playing? How to watch? What to look out for?

Only three years have passed since Italy's exhilarating run to glory at the delayed Euro 2020 tournament, culminating in their penalty-shootout success over England at Wembley in the final, and the Azzurri are present in Germany to defend their crown after their World Cup 2022 failure.

However, the likes of England, France, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands and hosts Germany will be among the leading contenders to dethrone Italy as kings of Europe, where the new continental champions will be crowned in Berlin on July 14.

Here, Sports Mole rounds up everything you need to know about today's Euro 2024 action, including which teams are in action, how to watch and what to keep a particular eye out for.

TODAY'S EURO 2024 FIXTURES

Croatia vs. Albania (2pm | Volksparkstadion)

Germany vs. Hungary (5pm | MHPArena)

Scotland vs. Switzerland (8pm | RheinEnergieStadion)

With all nations at Euro 2024 having now completed their opening fixtures, round two commences on Wednesday, where Group B rivals Croatia and Albania both endeavour to bounce back from their dampening defeats in the afternoon kickoff.

A Group A double-header then takes precedence, where hosts Germany welcome Hungary to the MHPArena in Stuttgart, before Scotland and Switzerland close out the day's action in Cologne.

TODAY'S PREDICTED LINEUPS AT EURO 2024

Croatia: Livakovic; Stanisic, Sutalo, Gvardiol, Sosa; Modric, Sucic, Kovacic; Majer, Budimir, Kramaric

Albania: Strakosha; Hysaj, Ajeti, Djimsiti, Mitaj; Asllani, Ramadani; Laci, Bajrami, Hoxha; Broja

Germany: Neuer; Kimmich, Tah, Rudiger, Mittelstadt; Andrich, Kroos; Musiala, Gundogan, Wirtz; Havertz

Hungary: Gulacsi; Orban, Lang, Szalai; Bolla, Nagy, Schafer, Kerkez; Sallai, Szoboszlai; Varga

Scotland: Gunn; Hendry, Hanley, Tierney; Ralston, Gilmour, McTominay, Robertson; McGinn, Christie; Shankland

Switzerland: Sommer; Schar, Akanji, Rodriguez; Widmer, Xhaka, Freuler, Aebischer; Vargas, Ndoye; Duah

HOW TO WATCH TODAY'S EURO 2024 ACTION

ITV1 and ITVX - in addition to STV and the STV Player - is the place to be for Croatia's clash with Albania, for which coverage begins at 1pm and ends at 4.15pm.

Both Group A contests will subsequently be shown on BBC 1, BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport Website, which hosts Germany vs. Hungary from 4.30pm to 7pm, before Scotland's battle with Swizterland between 7.30pm and 10.30pm

WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR IN TODAY'S EURO 2024 MATCHES

Croatia vs. Albania

Both victims of agonising opening defeats, Croatia were humbled in a 3-0 loss to Spain and arguably need to put things right more than Albania, whose 2-1 loss to Italy was not so disastrous by their standards.

Midfielder Nedim Bajrami even managed to score the quickest men's goal that the Euros has ever seen - timed at 23 seconds - before the reigning champions fought back, and their superior goal difference to Croatia means that they currently hold third place in the rankings.

However, with both sides on zero points, defeat for either could spell the end of their Euros journey prematurely, and Wednesday's battle will also see the two nations clash for the very first time in the men's game.

Expect to see Luka Modric man the Chequered Ones' midfield once more, while Josko Gvardiol might earn a recall to the XI too, but there are rumours that fulcrum Marcelo Brozovic could be demoted to the bench.

Germany vs. Hungary

Records tumbled at the feet of Germany's young guns and old guard during their 5-1 dismantling of Scotland in the inaugural fixture of the tournament, which represented the biggest-ever opening win that the men's tournament has ever seen.

As well as scoring the first goal of the tournament, Florian Wirtz's effort saw him become the youngest German man to strike at the European Championships, while Ilkay Gundogan managed to escape a nasty injury after a red-card worthy tackle from Ryan Porteous.

The Barcelona lynchpin is expected to form part of an unchanged lineup for the tournament hosts, who will be guaranteed a top-two finish should they prevail in Stuttgart, whereas Hungary have some more work to do.

The Magyars briefly showed some bite in their battle with Switzerland but ultimately lost 3-1 to sit third in the section, meaning that defeat could spell the end of their chances of last-16 qualification via a top-two finish.

However, Marco Rossi's men took four points off Germany in the last Nations League cycle and also held Die Mannschaft to a draw in Euro 2020, so the tie is certainly not a foregone conclusion from the first whistle.

Scotland vs. Switzerland

Subjected to an Allianz Arena annihilation last week, Scotland's shoddy display halted the party of the Tartan Army, who may be catching an early flight home if their side fail to drastically change their fortunes in Cologne.

Now on a run of just one win from their last 10 games, Steve Clarke's men must find a way to cope with Porteous's suspension - the Watford man has been banned for two games and will miss the rest of the group stage - and a couple of changes further forward may be in order too.

In contrast, Switzerland are just one win away from confirming their last-16 place thanks to their beating of Hungary, where Breel Embolo - who made just five appearances for Monaco last season due to an ACL injury - popped up with an injury-time lob.

Whether the 27-year-old's contribution justifies risking him from the first whistle is up to Murat Yakin's discretion, but even though Switzerland bested Scotland in a 2006 friendly, the Rossocrociati lost 1-0 to their opponents at Euro 96, which just so happens to be Scotland's most recent win at the Championships.

WHAT HAPPENED YESTERDAY AT EURO 2024?

Only two contests took place on Tuesday, where the first round of fixtures concluded with Turkey's battle with Georgia and Portugal's showdown with the Czech Republic in Group F.

The former contest was certainly a worthwhile watch, as Turkey triumphed 3-1 - thanks in no small part to a wonder strike from Real Madrid star Arda Guler - while Georgia spurned some glorious chances to claw their way back into the tie before Kerem Akturkoglu rolled the insurance goal into an empty net.

A couple of hours later, the Czech Republic dug incredibly deep defensively to keep Portugal at arm's length and looked set to pull off the latest Euro 2024 shock when Lukas Provod smashed in a stunning opener just past the hour mark.

However, Portugal were only behind for all of seven minutes - the Selecao's pressure eventually led to Robin Hranac turning the ball into his own net - and not long after a Diogo Jota winner was disallowed, Porto's Sergio Conceicao completed a wonderful comeback in the second minute of injury time.

While Cristiano Ronaldo did not get onto the scoresheet, the 39-year-old still added yet another record to his ever-growing list, becoming the first man to appear at six separate European Championships.