Reigning champions Italy were placed in the same group as Spain in Saturday’s draw for Euro 2024, while France will come up against the Netherlands.

England will however meet Slovenia, Denmark, and Serbia, with hosts Germany taking on Scotland in the tournament’s opening game on June 14 in Munich.

Italy, who beat England on penalties at Wembley in the final of the last European Championship in 2021, and Spain will also face Croatia and Albania in Group B.

Spain, victors over Italy in the final of Euro 2012, will take on 2018 World Cup runners-up Croatia in their opening match in Berlin on June 15.

Italy were always likely to face a difficult draw after being placed in the bottom pot based on their results in qualifying, when they scraped through with a 0-0 stalemate against Ukraine in their final match.

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“When you’re in the fourth pot you know that you have a lot of teams ahead of you, but you can’t forget that you represent Italy and you have to play every match with pride,” Italy coach, Luciano Spalletti, said after the draw.

The meeting of France, the 2022 World Cup runners-up, and the Netherlands will be the other heavyweight tie of the opening phase.

They were in the same section in qualifying, with France winning both encounters. The two nations are in Group D along with Austria and a play-off winner, which will be one of Poland, Wales, Finland, or Estonia.

England, in contrast, will have few complaints about their opponents in Group C, although a Denmark side ranked 19th in the world were arguably the team to avoid from the second pot of seeds.

Gareth Southgate’s team, considered the favourites along with France for the tournament, will take on Serbia in their opening game in Gelsenkirchen on June 16.

Southgate said: “I’ve stood here after quite a few draws and you always feel the same way, you can look at it on paper but the games aren’t played on paper.

“One or two teams that you are obviously glad to avoid, especially in pot three, pot four, but all the teams we play are more than capable.

“We’ve developed a lot as a team over the past few years, we’re used to these big games, we’re ready for the expectation and we hope we can give our supporters some more brilliant nights as I think we have in the last few tournaments.”

See the Euro 2024 draw below:

Group A: Germany, Scotland, Hungary, Switzerland

Group B: Spain, Croatia, Italy, Albania

Group C: Slovenia, Denmark, Serbia, England

Group D: Play-off winner A, Netherlands, Austria, France

Group E: Belgium, Slovakia, Romania, Play-off winner B

Group F: Turkey, Play-off winner C, Portugal, Czech Republic

Teams in Play-off Path A: Poland, Estonia, Wales, Finland

Teams in Play-off Path B: Israel, Iceland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ukraine

Teams in Play-off Path C: Georgia, Luxembourg, Greece, Kazakhstan

The Star