Italy begins the defense of its European Championship title against Albania on Saturday in their first Group B match. The other teams in the group are Spain and Croatia. Kickoff is at 9 p.m. local (1900 GMT) in Dortmund. Here's what to know about the match:

Match facts— Italy is back at a major tournament after failing to qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. That was a second straight World Cup that the Azzurri missed, though they won Euro 2020 in between.

Despite the complication of recent heavy rain, swimming in the River Seine is still the plan at the Paris Olympics after a $1.5 billion investment to improve the water quality.

"No reasons to doubt," International Olympic Committee executive Christophe Dubi said Thursday at an online briefing after hearing from city officials and Summer Games organizers. "We are confident that we will swim in the Seine this summer."

Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown shared a long hug after helping Boston avoid the biggest collapse in an NBA Finals game since at least 1997.

The reward? The Celtics stars are on the brink of joining the litany of big-name predecessors to put a banner above the parquet floor back home.

The sound of bagpipes, and men in kilts on the streets of Munich — Scotland is in town and the excitement is ramping up ahead of the European Championship curtainraiser on Friday.

Host nation Germany plays Scotland at Allianz Arena in the opener of the month-long tournament.

Football players' unions legally challenged FIFA on Thursday for expanding the Club World Cup.

The 32-team event, up from seven, is slated for June-July 2025 in the United States despite world players' union FIFPRO raising concerns about the increasing physical and mental demands on players.

A guide to everything you need to know about the European Championship in Germany:

When does it start?

Lionel Messi says Inter Miami will be "my last club."

The 36-year-old World Cup champion isn't thinking about joining an Argentine club to write the last chapter of playing career.

When Germany hosted the 2006 World Cup, it unleashed an unexpected burst of national pride across the country. For many Germans, it was the first time they felt they could wave the flag unburdened by the country's dark past.

As Germany gets ready to host another major soccer tournament, the European Championship, such scenes of patriotic fervor are hard to imagine happening again.

Goalkeepers and defenders: Exhale.

The most feared striker in Europe won't be playing at the European Championship.

Mohammed Rashid once worked as a forklift driver in a Chicago warehouse.

Fast forward to these grim times and Rashid, along with his Palestinian soccer teammates, carry a heavier weight knowing success on the field offers a little respite from the war raging in Gaza.