Comprehensive Euro 2016 preview: All you need to know about the 24 teams

The European Championship enters a new era on 10 June as the tournament kicks off in Paris with an expanded 24-team format. Bigger than ever, the four-week feast of football promises to elevate the game above the corruption scandals and security fears that have overshadowed its build-up. All eyes will be on hosts France when they get the ball rolling against Romania in the Stade de France – 210 days after suicide bombers at the same venue triggered a night of horror across the capital which killed 130 people. 51 Matches. 30 Days. 24 Teams. 10 stadiums. Here’s a comprehensive guide to everything you need to know about Euro 2016. [caption id=“attachment_2827820” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Euro 2016, the first European football championship with 24 teams, kicks off on 10 June. AFP[/caption] NEW FORMAT: The 24 teams are divided into six groups — with the top two advancing to the round of 16 along with four best third-place finishers. The new format gives a golden chance to theoretical outsiders. At the same time, it grants some leeway to the favourites, who can afford a stumble in the group round. Albania, Iceland, Northern Ireland, Slovakia and Wales are making their debuts this year at Euro 2016, bringing a freshness that is badly needed on the international stage. Here’s a look at the six groups: GROUP A: Albania, France, Romania, Switzerland The host team and Switzerland are everyone’s candidates for the top two spots, but they might struggle against Romania’s defence and against the commitment of the surprising Albania. France currently have one of their best player generations of recent times, and they have historically proved that they are a lot more dangerous before their own fans. Home advantage, vibrant squad: Don’t be surprised if France win Euro 2016 [caption id=“attachment_2827134” align=“alignright” width=“380”] France football team. AP[/caption] That future is now. France’s time has finally arrived. That summer of 2016 which they’ve long been building towards is here. Boasting a squad brimming with exceptional talent – both young and old – and a team impressing with a fairly entertaining style of play under the guidance of Didier Deschamps – who led the country to a World Cup triumph on home soil – France head into the tournament as one of the favourites. This year, the supporters are pinning their hopes on Paul Pogba, arguably the best midfielder in the world, to do the same. He might be only 23 years old – Platini was 29 in 1984, Zidane was 26 in 1998 – but he is capable of taking France all the way. Pogba frequently bosses games for both the national side and his Italian club Juventus although he is often frustrating in equal measure. His dynamism, with a taste for the spectacular, makes him the centrepiece of Deschamps’ 4-3-3 setup. Read more from Akarsh Sharma’s preview of France here. Dour Switzerland benefit from easy group, but will struggle against tougher opponents Switzerland are a typical big tournament in-betweeners. Not dark horses by any stretch, but not pushovers either. The Swiss possess the firepower to overcome Romania and Albania, the weaker teams in their Euro 2016 group, and are likely to qualify for the knockout stages, but aren’t strong enough to upset hosts France. Midfielders Xherdan Shaqiri (Stoke City), Granit Xhaka (now at Arsenal) and skipper and right-back Stephan Lichtsteiner (Juventus) are the team’s most well-known faces. As far as creativity goes, a lot will rest at the feet of Shaqiri, an outstanding playmaker-cum-winger, and with Xhaka, an all-action central midfielder who makes the Swiss midfield tick. Shaqiri bagged a couple of man-of-the-match awards in the 2014 World Cup and also scored a hat-trick against Honduras. In the current squad, he is the top goal-scorer with 17 goals. For Switzerland to stand any chance of going deep into the tournament, he will certainly have to be at his best. Read more from Akarsh Sharma’s preview of Switzerland here. GROUP B: England, Russia, Slovakia, Wales [caption id=“attachment_2827824” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] England have a new style based on quality passing 50 years after their only international football title. AFP[/caption] England will test their new style against three unpredictable rivals: a Russia side still led by the old guard, Slovakia with their reputation for downing football giants, and Gareth Bale’s Wales. England is defensively susceptible but has a plethora of fresh attacking options, including Harry Kane and Marcus Rashford, capable of challenging if not emerging with winners’ medals. Roy Hodgson’s youthful side went through qualifying with a 100 percent record and the team is seeking their first international success since the World Cup of 1966. Wales counting on Gareth Bale to bring success after a long wait Wales have Real Madrid’s two-time Champions League winner and most expensive player in the world Gareth Bale, and yes they have Arsenal’s box-to-box midfielder Aaron Ramsey, but it was also the belief instilled by manager Chris Coleman and fantastic team spirit that earned Y Dreigiau (The Dragons) their spot in France. Fresh on the back of another Champions League success, the 26-year-old forward is relishing this opportunity. Ramsey is the other standout name having helped Arsenal to second in the Premier League this season. Keep an eye out for his standout bleached-blonde hair. Both Crystal Palace’s heavily-bearded Joe Ledley and the “Welsh Pirlo” Joe Allen will provide more than able support in a strong midfield. At the back, Coleman will rely upon their skipper and Swansea centre-back Ashley Williams to marshal the defence. Some would point out that area as their weakness, but bear in mind Wales only conceded five goals during qualifying. Read more from Saj Chowdhury’s preview of Wales here. Russia’s new generation isn’t here yet, they will have to bank on experience Barring a brilliant run to the Euro 2008 semi-finals, when the wider world became familiar with the precocious talents of winger Andrey Arshavin and forward Roman Pavlyuchenko, Russia fans have been suffered from malnourishment when it comes to success on the international stage. Nine of the 23 squad players are aged 30 and over, but with age comes, of course, experience. Igor Akinfeev has kept more clean-sheets than any Russia keeper, and they have the effervescent box-to-box midfielder and captain Roman Shirokov. They do have one exciting young buck in the squad - CSKA’s Alexander Golovin. The lively 5ft 11in 20-year-old is still raw but helped his club to the league title, and also scored in his first two internationals. Then in attack they have Fedor Smolov. The Krasnodar 26-year-old has won 13 caps and scored five goals. He is a predator in and around the 18-yard area and also a bit of a jack in the box - check out his overhead kick against Ufa this season. Read more from Saj Chowdhury’s preview of Russia here. GROUP C: Germany, Northern Ireland, Poland, Ukraine There should be no problem for world champions Germany to advance to the round of 16 from the top spot in their group. Northern Ireland’s stamina, Robert Lewandowski’s goals for Poland and Ukraine’s pride should keep the group exciting. Germany caused a stir during the last World Cup with their unforgettable 7-1 thrashing over hosts Brazil in the semi-finals, en route to the title. On the road to France 2016, however, they looked a lot more vulnerable than most people expected. Injury-hit Germany have many problems, but history says that’s no problem at all [caption id=“attachment_2827832” align=“alignright” width=“381”] Germany have looked a lot more vulnerable than most people expected. AFP[/caption] The Germans are at it again. The weeks leading up to a major tournament are being spent sweating away over the fitness of some of the team’s core players. Friendly matches over the past year have brought more creases to the forehead of German fans. The qualifying campaign was not the most straightforward either. The supporters and pundits are starting to worry. All of that probably suggest Germany will be alright. Such is the tendency to play down the national team’s chances before the tournament that the bluff does not even work anymore. This is not to say that there are no issues with the side. Problems persist but if history is a reliable indicator, solutions will arrive soon. Nobody should be shocked if Germany lift the Henri Delaunay Cup at the Stade de France on 10 July. Read more from Priyansh’s preview of Germany here. Led by Lewandowski and Nawalka, this is Poland’s best chance to make a mark On a memorable qualifying campaign that included their maiden defeat of rivals Germany in Warsaw, Poland gained direct qualification as the Group runner-up, just a point behind the World Champions. Led by Robert Lewandowski, whose 13 goals put him at the top of the continent in the qualification tournament, Nawalka’s side have delivered time and again in crunch fixtures over the past two years. Playing a possession-heavy style of football, with a powerful, attack minded midfield seamlessly melding with the strike duo up front, Poland finished atop the goal-scoring charts with 33 goals from 10 games, 9 more than table-toppers Germany, who they face once again in the group stages, along with debutantes Northern Ireland and 2012 co-hosts Ukraine. On form, their high-stakes clash against the Germans at the Stade de France on 16 June could well decide the winner of the group. Read more from Srinath Sripath’s preview of Poland here . GROUP D: Croatia, Czech Republic, Spain, Turkey Spain lead one of the most balanced, unpredictable groups, but the defending champions are hardly at their best and are unlikely to have any comfortable games. Croatia are expected to come second, but the chaotic Turkey and the well-organized Czechs may well mix things up. Although Spain’s national team has not collected a trophy since Euro 2012, domestic clubs have swept up continental trophies for the three seasons. The Champions League has been won by Real Madrid (twice) and Barcelona while Sevilla completed a hat trick of Europa League titles in May. Spain need confidence and ‘old’ hunger to complete an unprecedented treble [caption id=“attachment_2827834” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Spain are seeking to reassert its old supremacy at Euro 2016. AP[/caption] Spain head into the 2016 Euros as defending champions, football fans are left in a quandary. Over the last eight years, they have gone into every major tournament as favourites, but one blip has changed everyone’s perceptions. Spain now have a good mix of youth and experience. Sergio Busquets (84 matches), Sergio Ramos (133) and Andres Iniesta (107) bring in loads of experience and form the core of the team. Busquets has grown into one of the best midfielders in the world and his passing ability along with defensive nous will be crucial for Spain, especially during opposition’s counter-attacks. He will take command of central midfield, most probably along with Koke. But what Spain need, to lift the historic treble, is the confidence and hunger to bring back the glory days which will exorcise the demons of that humid evening in Salvador against Netherlands which marked the end of an era at the Maracanã. Read more from Jigar Mehta’s preview of Spain here. Croatia’s big names can take it to the business end if the defence doesn’t betray Croatia isn’t the team it used to be. Its golden generation that took it to third place in the 1998 World Cup – and to the rarefied air atop FIFA rankings — is a thing of the past. But this team will make its opponents wary. For it is difficult to say what will come out the tunnel on any given day. And it is in a very interesting group; Turkey and the Czech Republic are no pushovers, and nobody is expecting defending champions Spain exiting in the first round in a repeat of the 2014 World Cup. Inter Milan’s Ivan Perisic has everyone salivating in anticipation of pace and penetration on the right wing. Dinamo Zagreb’s Marko Pjaca will likely feature on the left wing, and is touted as the surprise package of this Croatian team. With a sound and reliable goalkeeper in Monaco’s Danijel Subasic, Croatia actually have the ability to reach the quarter-finals. If they finish second in Group E — as is expected of them — they are likely to face England, France or Belgium in the knockout rounds. It will be fun to see them go against the perpetually overrated English side. Read more from Sopan Joshi’s preview of Croatia here . Youthful Czech side look to Petr Cech, Tomas Rosicky to carry team past group stage Arguably the weakest team of the group, Czech Republic, however, have an attacking game that could make them giant killers. Coach Pavel Vrba could be likened to former Croatia boss Niko Kovac. Like the latter, Vrba too is accused of being in love with his starting XI to an extent where he doesn’t make changes and persists with his preferred team, even continuing to bench players who should be getting more chances. For instance, Tomas Necid should ideally be leading the line over David Lafata. Former Arsenal midfield maestro Tomas Rosicky is still Czech Republic’s most important player and the one man key to their aspirations. The 35-year-old missed almost the entire domestic league season for Arsenal, but has made a full recovery in time to lead the Czech Republic at the Euro championships. Read more from Aakriti Mehrotra’s preview of Czech Republic here . Emperor’s army: Fatih Terim’s Turkey ready to match big guns When Fatih Terim took charge of the Turkish national side for the first time in 1993, the team was still waiting to make its first appearance at the Euros. Terim, called the ‘imparator’ (The Emperor) in his country, had once again shown that he could unify a squad in relatively little time. His redoubtable reputation would have only helped his efforts. Terim is a highly-respected figure at home who enjoys widespread popularity. Terim sets the current Turkish side up in a 4-2-3-1 formation. The standout feature of the team is the trio of attacking midfielders who support a lone striker. Arda Turan, Hakan Calhanoglu and Besiktas’ Oguzhan Ozyakup are the creative outlets in the side. Ozyakup is a product of Arsenal’s academy and he particularly shone in qualifying with nine goals and six assists. Read more from Priyansh’s preview of Turkey here . GROUP E: Belgium, Ireland, Italy, Sweden The Euro’s so-called “group of death” will bring together stars like Eden Hazard, Gianluigi Buffon and Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Belgium and Italy are regarded as having slightly better chances, but they should remain vigilant against Sweden and Ireland. A golden generation of Belgium players, embodied by Kevin De Bruyne and Eden Hazard, has to live up to their promise and start delivering on the international stage for the world’s second-ranked team. Euro 2016 will be a test for Italy, always a force to be reckoned with in events at this level. Forever underachievers, Belgium need to break out and believe in themselves [caption id=“attachment_2827836” align=“alignright” width=“380”] Belgium are one of the strongest teams on paper. AFP[/caption] With a history of failing at the cusp of history, Belgium has its second golden generation at its disposal. And it doesn’t get more ‘golden’ than this. Just take a look at their current crop of players: Thibaut Courtois, Simon Mignolet, Vincent Kompany, Toby Alderweireld, Jan Vertonghen, Thomas Vermaelen, Axel Witsel, Marouane Fellaini, Yannick Carrasco, Kevin De Bruyne, Radja Nainggolan, Eden Hazard, Mousa Dembele, Dries Mertens, Romelu Lukaku, Christian Benteke. Now that is a world-beating squad. That is probably the best team in the world on paper. Each of those players is a star for his respective club. In fact, if you combine the transfer value of their 23-man squad, Belgium is the costliest team in the Euro 2016 with a combined value of about £319 million. However, coach Marc Wilmots is faced with a slight problem; he can’t employ his best XI in the Euro 2016. Belgium, with many of its big names playing in the grueling Premier League, are beset with injuries, mostly to its defensive third. Read more from Manas Mitul’s preview of Belgium here . Italy go to Euro 2016 with familiar trope, focus on solid defence to bail out thin strike force Italy has the fourth oldest squad in the tournament, well behind their Group E opponents Ireland at 28.9 years. Conte’s squad has the defensive core of domestic league champions Juventus, led by the timeless Gianluigi Buffon along with Giorgio Chiellini, Leonardo Bonucci and Andrea Barzagli. Together, they would look to continue their impressive Serie A season, where they conceded just 20 goals in 38 games. Despite their stellar qualifying record, however, there is a prevailing sense that a lack of quality in midfield and an absence of a goal machine up front could hamper their chances as the tournament goes on. Marco Verratti and Claudio Marchisio are both out injured, and the combination of Daniele de Rossi and Thiago Motta would likely have to deal with pace and physicality as early as their opening fixture against Belgium. There has been some sharp criticism about Conte omitting the likes of Jorginho and Marco Benassi; but in almost all these cases, there is consistency in his picks — vast national experience is preferred, unless there is an exceptional case to consider. Read more from Srinath Sripath’s preview of Itlay here . Sweden’s hopes rest on Zlatan Ibrahimovic, but qualification from ‘group of death’ looks tough Sweden’s squad for Euro 2016 has a good mix of experience and youth. Coach Erik Hamren will attempt to build the right support system around Zlatan Ibrahimovic to ensure they can finally make a mark on a major international tournament and improve their below-par showing at such events. Their best run at a European Championship came in 1992, when they reached the semi-final stage as tournament hosts; but the Swedes have even failed to make it past the group stage since the 2004 event in Portugal. Hamren, like Ibrahimovic, fancies a 4-4-1-1 formation. With Zlatan the key member of the squad, it is only normal that Hamren’s tactics are principally centered around the former Paris Saint Germain striker. Playing back-up for Zlatan, John Guidetti is also in decent goal-scoring form having scored 12 goals for Celta Viga this season and could be a secret weapon for Hamren. The bulk of the responsibility will always lie with the captain and talisman, but in Guidetti, Sweden have a good cover. Read more from Aakriti Mehrotra’s preview of Sweden here . GROUP F: Austria, Hungary, Iceland, Portugal [caption id=“attachment_2827840” align=“alignleft” width=“381”] Portugal have never failed to advance beyond the group stage at a European Championship. AFP[/caption] Cristiano Ronaldo will try to improve his goal-scoring statistics even further in a group where Portugal should advance to the round of 16 with relative ease. The hopeful Austria appear to be one step ahead of Hungary and Iceland. Portugal tower above their rivals and should ease into the knockout stages at Euro 2016, but the illustrious team cannot underestimate a blossoming Austria side. Ranked eighth in the world, Portugal cruised towards a sixth straight appearance at the finals – in Group F against Austria, Hungary and Iceland – by reeling off seven straight qualifying wins after an opening defeat to Albania. But 12 years after the losing the final to Greece on home soil, Ronaldo’s hopes of landing an international title appear remote unless his supporting cast can deliver where they have failed in the past. With remarkable rise, Iceland are the darlings for the neutrals In the 10 games of Group A in the qualifying round, Iceland won six, drew and lost two each, finishing two points below leaders the Czech Republic. It was 23rd in FIFA’s ranking last year, and is currently 34th. Four years ago, it was 133rd. The team has a couple of Premier League stars, like Swansea’s creative midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson and the former Chelsea and Barca forward Eidur Gudjohnsen. But Iceland is an unknown quantity — this is their first major tournament. Nobody can predict how well they will fare in France. But this Chmapionship will determine how seriously they are taken in the future. The ageing Gujohnsen is not likely to start up front, and the younger and more successful forward Kolbeinn Sigthorsson will be the regular starter, with Jon Bodvarsson featuring as the second striker. Read more of Sopan Joshi’s preview of Iceland here . MATCH TIMINGS: The matches will be telecast on Sony ESPN and Sony Six in India. In India, the matches can be live streamed on the official UEFA.com website here: http://www.uefaeuro2016live.com/ The matches are scheduled for 6:30 pm, 9:30 pm and 12:30 am IST. In total, 10 stadiums in nine cities are set to host the 51 games at the first “Mega-Euro,” an unprecedented tournament that will attract millions of spectators and pose a major challenge on the pitch and far beyond.