Appearing for the first time in a European Championship, and 58 years after its sole participation in a World Cup, Chris Coleman’s team arrives in France sitting on a 2nd place on Group B, only 2 points behind Belgium and leaving behind the higher ranked Bosnia & Herzegovina. In an Euro2016 where, besides the first two of each group, the four best 3rd will also go on to the Round of 16, there is room for any squad to dream of qualifying, even if a 3rd place in this group means playing Spain or Germany on the first elimination match.

In the back, Chris Coleman will try to hide his team’s weaknesses using a 5-defender scheme. The three centre-backs will be led by captain Ashley Williams, and in the wings the Welsh will attempt to add depth to their offensive moves, specially through Neil Taylor, who tried more than double the crosses of his right side right partner during qualifying.

In the midfield, Joe Allen and Ramsey are indisputable, while Joe Ledley will not be able to play the first game against Slovakia and is expected to be replaced by Andy King in that match. But it’s on Arsenal’s midfielder that all eyes are set in this sector, being primarily responsible for the ball transportation and cutting passes to Bale.

Regardless of the formation and/or other elements used, it’s known that this squad depends almost exclusively on the talent of Bale. After a fantastic season at Real Madrid with 19 goals and 10 assists in just 23 games in the Spanish League, his performance will be the best “barometer” for the success or failure of the Welsh campaign.

After three disastrous years, shadowed by the extremely costly Italian coach and successive disputes with several players, and in danger of failing to qualify after a home defeat to Austria (who would win the group), Fabio Capello was replaced in office by Leonid Slutsky, that accumulated the position with the CSKA coaching job. Since then, Russia won all the qualifying matches ensuring the presence in the Euro with a second place in group G.

Picking only players from the Russian League, Slutsky managed to create a cohesive and united group, with great solidarity within the pitch. And this spirit is needed to help mask the weaknesses of this group, namely the lack of speed of its centre-backs. With a cumulative 69 years, Berezutski and Ignashevich will have some difficulties against faster forwards, which will force the middle of the park to work constantly and pressuring the carrier to try to hinder passes.

The injury to Dzagoev, perhaps their biggest star, was a blow to the Russian hopes, and it adds increased offensive responsibilities for Shatov and Kokorin, who are the most looked for during offensive transitions and in creativity areas, always aiming to serve the duo up front.

Either playing the genial Shirokov in the hole or with the top-scorer in the Russian League, Smolov (29J, 20G), by his side, indisputable is Dzyuba, the giant, which arrives at Euro2016 after a great individual season with 15 goals scored in 30 games.

Despite a perfect qualification (10j, 10v, 31GM, 3 GS) and always being identified as one of the teams to go far in any competition it enters, the truth is that since 1968, England has only once reached the semi-finals of a European Championship. If we combine this with the fact that only once in its history, has the England team reached that same stage of the competition playing outside the island, we conclude that success is far from guaranteed.

Roy Hodgson has alternated his tactical formation between a 4–3–3 and a 4–4–2, but looking at the final squad, which only has a real winger, the latter should be the one picked, especially since it allows the presence of Kane and Vardy simultaneously.

If creating chances and scoring goals should not be a problem, the same easiness is not present in the defensive area of the pitch. There are only three central defenders in the squad, and with Cahill undisputed due to the quality and experience he brings to the pitch, whether partnering Smalling or Stones, the doubt persists to the ability of the English to form a solid defense.

In the middle of the park, Dier should be the owner of more defensive, keeping up with a terrific season for the Spurs. Sterling and Rooney will be the most offensive elements going forward, responsible for carrying balls up the field and serving the two forwards. Here may lie the secret to the English success, since both Vardy and Kane, despite their undisputed skills, are more finishers that creators, and they need the game to come to them with quality.

It’s still unclear who will be the fourth element in midfield. If during qualifying, Hodgson bet mostly on Henderson, the recent friendlies and the clear commitment of England’s technical staff to a youth movement, seem to imply that it will be the young Dele Alli to snatch the opening, bringing even more creativity to the English middle.

After missing all international competitions between 1966 and 1994, the swiss national team has been present in the last 3 World Cups and 5 out of 7 Euros (one as a host).

Since replacing Ottmar Hitzfeld, after an elimination in the 2016 World Cup Round of 16 by Argentina, Vladimir Petkovic’s path has not been brilliant. Despite a rather calm qualification that ended in 2nd place in Group E, only behind England, the swiss lost 3 of the 4 games against England and Slovenia (3rd place finishers) and hasn’t enjoyed different results in the friendlies before the Euro2016.

Known as a defensive coach, Petkovic’s Switzerland shows a greater inclination to attack than his previous teams, leaving only 6 members to the defensive tasks with a frontline of 4 that help very little in off-the-ball duties. If you add their side-backs offensive nature, it’s easily explained why they only had clean sheets again San Marino, Estonia and Lichtenstein in the qualifying stage.

The middle of the park is where the hopes of the swiss rely, namely with Shaqiri and Xhaka. If Arsenal’s latest transfer is the thinking block of the team, capable of exposing the opponents’ liabilities through pass, Shaqiri is a completely different player, a natural-born smasher, with easiness of dribble and shot, quick in transitions always with the ball glued to his left foot, even though he lacks collective skills in some moments of the game.

Due to the absence of Drmić, Seferović will be the lone striker and even though he only scored 3 times in last year’s Bundesliga, he scored 3 in 7 games in the qualifying stages and also leading the swiss on shots made.

Albania debuts in the final stages of international competitions, after a 2nd place in Portugal’s qualifying group, ahead of several more experienced teams like Serbia and Denmark, a journey clearly marked by the geopolitical episode in the match in Serbia, with an administrative win by 3–0, and the surprising victory against Portugal 1–0 in the first round game, that would dictate the departure of Paulo Bento as the Portuguese’s coach.

The team has gained respect for its defensive organization, shown in every game, and
by its resilience to chase all balls during the 90 minutes.

In a tactical scheme that varies between a more defensive 4–5–1 or a 4–2–3–1 at times, when trying to show some offensive capability, the Albanians will have in the elements that make up its backline (with Berisha, a regular substitute for Lazio, included) the key to any kind of success in this competition, with an expected highlight on Lorik Cana, captain and already named as the best Albanian player ever.

The defensive streak of Italian coach De Biasi is more visible on the sides of the pitch, with Lenjani and Lila acting as wingers, although both came through football as defenders.

Although not guaranteed to appear as a starter, the great hope for the Albanians is Rashica, the 19 year-old who shot his way into Vitesse this season, with 8 gols and 3 assists, and has been considered a rising star in European football.

The squads of Hagi, Monteanu and Raducioiu are long gone and after the golden age of Romanian football between 1984 and 2000, in which they were present in 3 World Championships and three Euros, in the past 16 years they only attended the 2008 European tournament in which they failed to win a game (1L, 2T).

Anghel Iordanescu trains the national team for the third time in his career, having succeeded in getting Romania undefeated to the second place in Group F, behind a surprising Northern Ireland, while becoming the best defense to qualify for France 2016.

As results have been showing, the Romanian team is strong, especially, for its cohesive defense while lacking in the offensive midfield weapons capable of tipping more vetted teams.

In the back, Fiorentina’s goalkeeper Tatarusanu guarantees tranquility and experience in international competitions, and Naples defender and skipper of this national team Vlad Chiriches is another one of the most prominent figures, not only due the major number of recovered balls but also by the apparent ease in getting out into play.

In the attack, Stancu is always a factor to be taken into account, with the number of goals that he usually scores, despite his goalscoring being more prominent in clubs than in the national squad.

The possible way out of the group stages for Romania will be trying to be one of the best 3. if 4 points are enough, then beating Albania and trying to draw one of the other two games will be the plan for Iordanescu’s boys.

We start our analysis of the Euro 2016 teams with Group A and the host nation. With a good record while hosts, winning Euro 84 and 98’ World Cup at home, Les Bleus are the clear favourites to win a group that opposes them to Switzerland, Romania and Albania.

The team managed by Deschamps shows great quality from the middle up, but two recent injuries have wreaked havoc in their back four. First it was Varane to go down, replaced by Sevilla’s centre-back Adil Rami, and in the last few days Mathieu (the new starter in place of Varane) also suffered a setback and allowed Samuel Umtiti to join the team.

In midfield, injury has also struck, with Diarra leaving the team. Kanté, Diarra’s replacement as the probable starter, Pogba and Matuidi guarantee the French an impressive physical dimension, while maintaining the ability to carry the ball upward and unbalance opposing defences. Kanté will be on the defensive end of this midfield triangle, covering his teammates’ backs for offensive transitions. If Paul Pogba can keep his focus and clarity at heights we only see sometimes out of him, France wins a whole different consistency and could go very far in the competition.

Up top, the spotlight is divided between the absence of Karim Benzema for extra-football reasons and the presence of Antoine Griezmann, after a stellar season with Atlético de Madrid, where he scored 34 goals in all competitions. The lefty, grandson of Portuguese, has elevated his game since moving to Madrid from Real Sociedad and is now a force to be reckoned in any competition he enters.

After two editions sharing hosts, and with all four with no real aspirations to win it all, where back to single-country hosting, and in the ability of the French squad to mobilize their country may be the key to their success in the tournament, as seen in Portugal in 2004.