The final countdown to UEFA Euro 2024 has officially begun as we approach a string of highly anticipated international friendlies. Some of the nations that are playing this week are heading for the big tournament and others aren’t, but either way, it’s important for all of them to try and build some momentum. Today, we’ll be taking a look at the impending clash between Germany and Ukraine.

Germany is known as one of the most successful nations in the history of the beautiful game. In recent tournaments, however, they haven’t exactly done themselves justice, going through one of their worst spells in their history when it comes to success. With that being said, the Euros will be held in their own back yard this year, which is reason enough to believe they can do something special.

The great thing for Germany is that they’ve qualified as hosts, and that they have a home crowd behind them for the entire Euros. At the same time, it’s been a while since we’ve seen them play in a proper competitive game, and we do wonder whether or not that’ll hurt them.

It goes without saying that the Ukrainian national team has been through a lot, as can be said for the country as a whole. In the football sense, however, they need to bounce back after failing to qualify for the World Cup. They have the quality necessary to spring a few surprises, but what they appear to be lacking is some real team cohesion to help transform them into something new.

Following on from a third place finish in their qualifying group, Ukraine were forced to go through the dreaded playoffs. However, they actually managed them quite nicely, defeating Bosnia 2-1 in their semi-final before proceeding to edge past Iceland 2-1 in the final just days later.

In a game like this, the whole point is to do everything in your power to make an impact - but at the same time, there are far more important matches that lie ahead. Therefore, while we do think there will be some big moments here and there, our official prediction is under 2.5 goals scored.