United Beyond Manchester

Round 2 of the group stage has officially begun. Germany have rolled into the Knockouts already, and both Albania and Scotland have kept themselves alive with hard-earned draws. Let’s dive into the action below!

Croatia 2 Albania 2

After dropping their first match 2-1 with a second-half collapse, Albania looked bound for another heartbreaking defeat. This time, however, Klaus Gjasula, who scored an own goal in the 76th minute, found the back of Croatia’s net deep into stoppage time to grab a point and stay alive.

Albania started well as they did against Italy and scored in the 11th minute. Within two minutes in the second half, Andrej Kramaric and an own goal put Croatia up 2-1 seemingly for good. Gjasula had other ideas, and Albania retain a slim chance of reaching the knockout stage heading into Matchday 3.

Germany 2 Hungary 0

Germany’s 5-1 destruction of Scotland was a good start, but they needed to keep the momentum rolling today against a side that has had their number in recent years. While the scoreline was not quite as drastic, Germany was just as comfortable, as they saw off Hungary 2-0.

Bayern Munich’s Jamal Musiala scored in his second consecutive match, and Ilkay Gundogan scored to add on in the second half. So far, Musiala has looked like an early favorite for Player of the Tournament, and his team has looked like the early favorites to win it all.

Scotland 1 Switzerland 1

It is always him. Serial Scotland goal scorer Scott McTominay found the back of the net again for his country in the 13th minute to provide Scotland with an early lead. Not only did he score, but the United midfielder also was given the job of man-marking Granit Xhaka, which he did very well.

Unfortunately for Scotland, a goal from Xherdan Shaqiri on a defensive error was enough for the match to end 1-1. Despite the disappointment of a draw, Scotland still can qualify for the Knockouts with a win over Hungary.

What are your thoughts on today’s matches?