The first full day of action at Euro 2024 saw Switzerland start off on the right foot with a 3-1 win over Hungary while Spain had no trouble with Croatia, beating them 3-0. In the day's final game, reigning champions Italy dominated in every statistical category except goals, coming away with a 2-1 win over Albania. Find out all you need to know: The scoreline indicates a game that was close, but it really shouldn't have been.
Italy should have put away a third goal after scoring two in the first quarter of an hour, but in the end it was enough, holding on against an Albania team that didn't put enough pressure on them in the final moments. Albania's Nedim Bajrami scored after just 23 seconds, capitalizing on a poor throw-in from Italy, to set the mark for the quickest goal scored in a men's European Championship. From there, it was all Italy.
Alessandro Bastoni and Nicolo Barella both scored shortly after while Italy also hit the post and were wasteful on a couple other quality chances. Italy had 69% possession and 17 shots to Albania's eight in a game that highlighted the winners' restocked backline. Alongside Bastoni, Genoa's 22-year-old star center back Riccardo Calafiori stole the show with an exceptional display of strength, timing and smarts, keeping the underdogs at bay for almost the entirety of the game.
Aside from a lapse in the final moments where he was bailed out by goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, the former AS Roma man was near perfect as Bastoni's partner to .