Serbia vs England LIVE: Euro 2024 team news and latest updates

The thrashing by the hosts in Munich means Scotland sit bottom of Group A, although with Switzerland to play on Wednesday, followed by Hungary, there is still hope of making the last 16.

For that to happened though Scotland will have to show an enormous improvement as they bid to collect the four points Clarke believes could take them through.

Euro 2024 is here with 24 teams competing to win the Henri Delaunay Trophy in Germany this summer.

Germany thumped Scotland in the opener in Munich with German fans delighted with the prospect of a fourth European Championship.

The strongest nations all appear fallible coming into the European Championship, and it is shaping up to be an open tournament with the chance to go deep into the knockout rounds for any side who can get their act together.

Here, The Independent assesses how every Euro 2024 nation stacks up.

We are expecting Trent Alexander-Arnold to line up alongside Declan Rice in midfield tonight, a bold call from Gareth Southgate but one that he feels comes with an “opportunity worth grasping”.

Need to know a little bit more about tonight’s referee? Here’s our guide to the experienced Daniele Orsato, who will be overseeing affairs in Gelsenkirchen:

Yes, there’s an election due in the United Kingdom, in case you hadn’t heard – the first postal votes have been submitted before the country goes to the polls en masse on Thursday July 4. Jim White explores just to what extent football and politics are intertwined:

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has urged England to “make it a summer to remember” ahead of their Euro 2024 opener against Serbia.

Thousands of Three Lions fans have descended on Gelsenkirchen, in western Germany, as they hope to witness Gareth Southgate’s men make a winning start in Group C.

The opening game of an intriguing Sunday in Germany is up and running, with Poland (shorn of Robert Lewandowski due to injury) in front against a Dutch side that plenty think might go well over the next few weeks. You can follow all of the action from Hamburg right here – flick it up on another tab and revel in the Euros action!

On Friday night, as Germany were setting a pace for their tournament by thrashing Scotland, Gareth Southgate gathered the England squad for a meeting. The theme of this was more reflective, almost a final mission statement before it all begins. Southgate spoke about the tournaments they’ve already been through and the lessons that his staff and senior players have taken. That’s more important than usual, given that 12 of the 26 have never even been in this situation before. Southgate did also point to how some elements from the past that have served England well can now be discarded.

That doesn’t really apply to opening games, though. England actually have a fine record in such matches under Southgate, that has actually improved with each tournament. In 2018, there was the late 3-1 win over Tunisia. In Euro 2020, there was a professional – and vengeful – victory over Croatia. In 2022, there was the 6-2 evisceration of Iran. England were almost the Germany of that tournament.

As to whether Southgate’s team can follow the hosts on Sunday, in the way Spain did by destroying Croatia, as well as their own trend, that is another unknown about this first match against Serbia in Gelsenkirchen. It is why this feels more portentous than any of those two previous opening games, maybe the most telling since Tunisia.

Miguel Delaney, chief football writer, ahead of England vs Serbia:

The midfielder was rewarded with a first England call-up for June’s training squad and did enough to earn a place in Southgate’s 26-man squad for the Euros.