Germany v Scotland: Euro 2024 opening game – live

Ready? Of course you are. It’s been 13 long summer days since Real Madrid won the Champions League final, but the wait is almost over. We’re about to break the seal on a 30-day football buffet, where the games and goals will just keep piling up. You tell yourself that you might skip Poland v Austria next Friday, but you know you won’t.

We’re all in, and if the trophy belongs to the players and the tournament belongs to the fans who will criss-cross between Germany’s great football cathedrals, then maybe this moment belongs to us, the armchair fans. The simple joy of a big summer tournament feels like an increasingly rare treat, so let’s savour the moment.

Tonight’s opener, pencilled in the diary ever since the draw in early December, feels like a perfect first act. It pits the hosts, among the favourites but still not quite finding that elusive extra gear, against perennial underdogs in Scotland. Steve Clarke’s side appear to have slipped backwards since their exceptional qualifying campaign, drifting from dark horses to outsiders in a tricky Group A.

That said, if you have to play Germany in Germany, this is the time to do it – when rustiness and first-night nerves could really play a part. All the pressure is on the hosts tonight, and the longer Scotland can keep them at bay, the greater the tension inside the, er, Munich Football Arena. There lies the path to a shock victory – and if you can’t dream now, when can you?

Kick-off is at 9pm local time, 8pm BST and we’ll have all the buildup, team news and coverage of the opening ceremony. Auf geht’s!