GROUP A
ALBANIA
Coach: Gianni De Biasi
Star man: Lorik Cana
Tournament best: Never qualified
Albania will play in a major finals for the first time in their history having slotted in ahead of Denmark and Serbia to finish runners-up in a qualifying group topped by Portugal. They beat Cristiano Ronaldo and company in their own backyard while Group A foes France were defeated in a friendly last June.
FRANCE
Coach: Didier Deschamps
Star man: Antoine Griezmann
Tournament best: Winners 1984, 2000
Eighteen years on from a World Cup triumph on home soil, the hosts boast a talented squad and should start as pre-tournament favourites. They could be unstoppable going forward if Griezmann, Paul Pogba and Anthony Martial can continue their exploits. Three group-stage exits in the past seven major tournaments shows they can implode, though.
ROMANIA
Coach: Anghel Iordanescu
Star man: Razvan Rat
Tournament best: Quarter-finals 2000
Went unbeaten through the qualification process, conceding just twice and scoring 11 as they won five and drew five to finish second behind Northern Ireland. They will hope that resolute streak continues, particularly in the tournament's curtain-raiser against France, when they will aim to be Paris party poopers.
SWITZERLAND
Coach: Vladimir Petkovic
Star man: Xherdan Shaqiri
Tournament best: Group stages 1996, 2004, 2008
Made it as runners-ups in England's weak group despite losing their opening two contests, and the aim will be to reach the last 16 for the first time. The Swiss possess talented individuals in Xherdan Shaqiri and Granit Xhaka, though lack a true goal-scorer after their 24 qualification goals were shared between 14 players.
GROUP B
ENGLAND
Coach: Roy Hodgson
Star man: Harry Kane
Tournament best: Semi-finals 1968, 1996
Recent failures may have curbed expectation, yet Hodgson's team blitzed through qualification without dropping a point. As well as defensive concerns, there are selection dilemmas, including whether all-time leading scorer Wayne Rooney should be accommodated. However, the exciting attacking options at Hodgson's disposal at least gives England dark-horse status.
RUSSIA
Coach: Leonid Slutsky
Star man: Artem Dzyuba
Tournament best: Semi-finals 2008 (The Soviet Union won the tournament in 1960)
It looked unlikely that Russia would even be in France after they took eight points from their opening six games before Slutsky replaced Fabio Capello and guided them to four straight victories. They will want to impress ahead of hosting the 2018 World Cup and will have a place in the knock-outs on their agenda having being transformed under Slutsky.
SLOVAKIA
Coach: Jan Kozak
Star man: Marek Hamsik
Tournament best: Never qualified (Czechoslovakia won the tournament in 1976)
Won their opening six games in qualification and beat Spain at home back in October 2014, before stumbling over the line with a first European Championship finals place in sight. They have match-winners in their midfield in Napoli's Hamsik and former Manchester City man Vladimir Weiss. England should be wary as they eliminated defending champions Italy at the 2010 World Cup.
WALES
Coach: Chris Coleman
Star man: Gareth Bale
Tournament best: Never qualified
Finally back in tournament football after a 58-year wait since the 1958 World Cup in Sweden. In Real Madrid's Bale, the world's most expensive player, Wales have a superstar with a useful sidekick in Aaron Ramsey. Plenty of hype surrounds the England fixture but the opening game versus Slovakia may decide their fate.
GROUP C
GERMANY
Coach: Joachim Low
Star man: Thomas Muller
Tournament best: Winners 1972*, 1980*, 1996 (*as West Germany)
Aiming to follow recent winners France and Spain with a World Cup-European Championships double having beaten Argentina in Brazil two summers ago. Captain Philipp Lahm has since retired, his replacement Bastian Schweinsteiger is on the wane and a recent home loss to England raised question marks. But they always save their best for tournament-time.
NORTHERN IRELAND
Coach: Michael O'Neill
Star man: Steven Davis
Tournament best: Never qualified
Heading on a maiden Euros voyage, with their most recent World Cup finals appearance coming in 1986. They topped their qualifying group, though, and have embarked on a record-breaking 10-match unbeaten run thanks to the enhanced belief O'Neill has helped foster. While defensively sound, they need Kyle Lafferty to produce again up top.
POLAND
Coach: Adam Nawalka
Star man: Robert Lewandowski
Tournament best: Group stages 2008, 2012
Like Wales, Portugal and Sweden, Poland posses a world-class player who they will largely pin their hopes on. Bayern Munich striker Lewandowski struck 13 times, more than anyone else, in qualifying, when the Poles recorded a long-awaited victory over Germany. A first last-16 berth is the goal.
UKRAINE
Coach: Mykhaylo Fomenko
Star man: Andriy Yarmolenko
Tournament best: Group stages 2012
Finally made it through the play-offs at the sixth time of asking with victory over Slovenia over two legs. Both Dynamo Kiev playmaker Yarmolenko and tricky Sevilla winger Yevhen Konoplyanka can unlock defences when in the mood and the last 16 will be their target, even if it is a meeting with the world champions up first.
GROUP D
CROATIA
Coach: Ante Cacic
Star man: Luka Modric
Tournament best: Quarter-finals 1996, 2008
A fourth successive appearance in the European Championship finals shows there has been a steady stream of talent emerging in recent years. La Liga trio Modric, Ivan Rakitic and Mateo Kovacic can control games in midfield and striker Mario Mandzukic has always been prolific so they will be looking to progress beyond their group.
CZECH REPUBLIC
Coach: Pavel Vrba
Star man: Petr Cech
Tournament best: Runners-up 1996 (Czechoslovakia won the tournament in 1976)
The class of 2016 may lack a Pavel Nedved or Euro 2004 golden boot winner Milan Baros, but they did top a qualifying group that featured Holland and Group B opponents Turkey. There is plenty of experience in Vrba's squad and they advanced to the quarter-finals only four years ago.
SPAIN
Coach: Vicente del Bosque
Star man: Andres Iniesta
Tournament best: Winners 1964, 2008, 2012
La Roja are back-to-back defending champions and Sergio Ramos, Iniesta, David Silva and Cesc Fabregas all remain after starting the final eight years ago, although a pathetic attempt at defending their World Cup crown, when they were hammered 5-1 by Holland en route to a group-stage exit in 2014, showed that Spain's golden generation may have lost their sheen.
TURKEY
Coach: Fatih Terim
Star man: Arda Turan
Tournament best: Semi-finals 2008
Enthralled the continent with their late-goal heroics at Euro 2008, when a team featuring Turan and managed by Terim scored last-gasp strikes in three successive matches in a run to the semi-finals. Interestingly enough, the Czechs and Croatia were the two nations they eliminated and Turkey will hope some mental scars remain.
GROUP E
BELGIUM
Coach: Marc Wilmots
Star man: Kevin De Bruyne
Tournament best: Runners-up 1980
A star-studded team failed to truly live up to their billing at the World Cup, even though they advanced to the last eight. Eden Hazard and Christian Benteke have had disappointing club campaigns and they are shorn of injured centre-back Vincent Kompany. Nevertheless, Wilmots' squad will be the envy of most international managers and they have a chance to win it all.
ITALY
Coach: Antonio Conte
Star man: Leonardo Bonucci
Tournament best: Winners 1968
Perhaps one of the weakest Azzurri squads to have gone to a major tournament, this is still a well-drilled, defensively-sound unit that can reach the latter stages, even if it is lacking attacking panache. Manager Conte has already stated he is leaving for Chelsea after this tournament and it will be interesting to see how that affects his team.
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND
Coach: Martin O'Neill
Star man: Robbie Keane
Tournament: Group stages 1988, 2012
Four years ago under Giovanni Trapattoni the Republic slumped to three defeats in a difficult group, scoring once and conceding nine. They have been drawn alongside tough opponents once more, yet they will take heart from the fact they took four points in two contests with Germany in qualification.
SWEDEN
Coach: Erik Hamren
Star man: Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Tournament best: Semi-finals 1992
Dragged to France by the talismanic Ibrahimovic, who scored 11 of their 19 goals in qualification - three of which came in a two-legged play-off win over Scandinavian neighbours Denmark. This is likely to be the 34-year-old's final act on the international circuit and he is sure to steal the show, one way or another.
GROUP F
AUSTRIA
Coach: Marcel Koller
Star man: David Alaba
Tournament best: Group stage 2008
Were the co-hosts in their only previous European Championship finals, when they failed to win a game, yet they were unbeaten in qualification this time around and won nine of their 10 fixtures. Leicester's title-winning full-back Christian Fuchs is captain, Bayern's Alaba their key man, while Stoke's Marko Arnautovic arrives in fine fettle.
HUNGARY
Coach: Bernd Storck
Star man: Balazs Dzsudzsak
Tournament best: Semi-finals 1964, 1972
Twice World Cup finalists, Hungary are back in the finals of a tournament after a 30-year absence, an even more remarkable achievement considering they had three managers during qualifying. Plenty of their players, such as 40-year-old goalkeeper Gabor Kiraly, Zoltan Gera and Tamas Priskin, will be familiar to English fans following their stints on these shores.
ICELAND
Coaches: Lars Lagerback and Heimir Hallgrimsson
Star man: Gylfi Sigurdsson
Tournament best: Never qualified
Iceland are another first-time qualifier for a major tournament, having lost a play-off with Croatia to determine who went to the 2014 World Cup. They have plenty of pedigree, with ex-Chelsea and Barcelona forward Eidur Gudjohnsen and Sigurdsson in their ranks, while co-manager Lagerback took Sweden to three European Championships.
PORTUGAL
Coach: Fernando Santos
Star man: Cristiano Ronaldo
Tournament best: Runners-up 2004
As has been the case in recent years, Portugal will likely heavily lean on the brilliance of record scorer Ronaldo once more. However, the next generation of Portuguese stars could be ready to blossom next month too, with William Carvalho, Joao Mario and recent Bayern Munich acquisition Renato Sanches ones to watch.
Source: PA-WIRE
