Germany's perfect start against Scotland is reminiscent of the 2014 World Cup

A perfect start to a tournament can change so many things and set the best possible course for the future. Germany's class of 2014 showed this already 10 years ago after their impressive start against Portugal.

After just 12 minutes, Thomas Müller fired Germany into the lead, and following a goal from Mats Hummels and two more from Müller, Joachim Löw's side celebrated a huge victory to kick-start their World Cup campaign in Brazil.

Ultimately we all know how that one ended - how could we forget Müller's post-match declaration: "We are world champions!"?

Two days before the 10th anniversary of that memorable start to the 2014 World Cup, Germany started Euro '24 on home soil against Scotland on Friday evening - once again, with a bang. It only took 10 minutes for Florian Wirtz to give Germany the lead on this occasion. Jamal Musiala, Kai Havertz and Niclas Füllkrug made it 4-0 against the 10-man Scots. Just like it was 10 years ago, a central defender from the opposition was shown a red card, this time Ryan Porteous.

These parallels to the 2014 World Cup are not clouded by the late action from this game, an own goal from Antonio Rüdiger and a long-range effort from Emre Can resulted in the game finishing 5-1 instead of 4-0. Regardless, Julian Nagelsmann's side managed the perfect start to their home Euros campaign.

>>>Match report: Germany celebrates 5-1 win against Scotland.