Tournament hosts France are joined by new faces Albania, old faces Romania and unpredictable faces Switzerland in Group A.

On paper, Didier Deschamps' side look to have an easy route to the knock-out stages, after all they are taking on a team who have never qualified before, another who have not made a mark on a major tournament since the turn of the century and the Swiss, who are going into this tournament with low expectations.

However, unless the French are able to break down these defensive sides, who like to play on the counter attack, goals could be few and far between in this group.

Switzerland could be in a good position to take second spot but Romania will fancy their chances if Albania are already out by the time they face them in the third and final group fixture.

Friday, June 10: France v Romania

As the opening game of the tournament, the eyes of Europe will be on this fixture.

Everyone is looking forward to seeing what the hosts have to offer. So many have tipped them as one of the strong favourites, but can they get the ball rolling from the start?

Romania will look to catch them on the break so it could be a tight meeting but it will show how France handle being pushed back on their own turf.

The tournament newcomers and significant underdogs have succeeded just by qualifying, anything else now is a bonus.

Write them off at your peril though - they may have drawn the favourites to win the competition but don't forget Albania drew and beat France in friendlies during their qualifying campaign.

Don't expect many high-scoring games ,though. Albania only conceded five goals across the qualifiers but they also scored just seven. The history books will say 10 but they were awarded a 3-0 win against Serbia after it was abandoned for fighting when the game was still goalless.

Those three points helped move them into second place, where they qualified ahead of Denmark, and proved team unity can be a lot more valuable than individual stars.

Gianni de Biasi, their Italian manager who now has Albanian citizenship, has the team playing more disciplined and tactical football. They don't offer much in attack though and are likely to play with a lone striker.

Albania's squad is made up of a mix of nationalities stemming from the Civil War in the 1990s so watch out for some history being made in their fixture with Switzerland - brothers Taulant and Granit Xhaka will come up against each other in a Euros first.

The over-riding bookies' favourites to yet again secure the silverware on their own patch, France have endured quite the journey since lifting the World Cup in 1998.

After the disasters of Euro 2008 and World Cup 2010, when they failed to win a single game and went out in the group stages with a 0-0 draw being their best result on both occasions, France showed signs of progression in 2014.

Losing in the quarter-finals to eventual winners Germany was no disaster but Deschamps' side look more like the finished product and have come to the fore just in time to shine in their own back garden.

The team doesn't pick itself, and their defence is ageing, but they have a rich vein of talent throughout the 23-man pool and the unusual sense of optimism going into this one will naturally have an impact.

They may be without Karim Benzema, Mathieu Valbuena and Mamadou Sakho for off-field issues but Morgan Schneiderlin made the cut.

All eyes will be on Antoine Griezmann and this could be Paul Pogba's year to shine.

Following an underwhelming Euro 2008 campaign where they failed to win a game, Romania have not made a mark on a tournament since 2000 when they reached the quarter-finals in Belgium and Holland.

Anghel Iordanescu's side are finally on the way back up again and were one of the few countries to go undefeated during the qualifying campaign, conceding just two goals.

Romania's "coach of the century" is in his third spell in charge of the national team but it will be his last hurrah as he moves into a technical supervisor role after the tournament. Plans are already in place for one of his three assistants to replace him.

Iordanescu is known for a cautious approach and his side are likely to sit back, absorb play and pounce on the counter attack.

He already had limited midfield options before choosing to leave number 10 Alexandru Maxim out of the squad and many of his natural leaders, including captain Razvan Rat, haven't had much game time at club level this season.

They have strong talent in their ranks though, defender Vlad Chiriches is tipped to be their star man but it's also worth keeping an eye on new, exciting talent Nicolae Stanciu who is valued around €10m.

As a side who have never made it out of the group stages, this has the potential to be Switzerland's best shot at the competition.

With up to three teams able to progress and Albania not expected to be one of them, Vladimir Petkovic's side could replicate their run in the 2014 World Cup where they reached the knock-out stages.

They finished second to England in their bid to reach France but their seven wins out of 10 may not be as convincing as it looks on paper. They almost had to settle for a place in the play-offs and like Romania, many of their players haven't been getting game time at their respective clubs lately.

Petkovic has tried to turn them into an aggressive side who likes to dominate possession but instead they still look more comfortable sitting deep and letting the opposition dictate play.

The Swiss have lacked a spark recently but if the young squad prove to have matured since their last tournament two years ago they could end up clicking at just the right time. They'll be looking to avoid a repeat of the 5-2 defeat to France in 2014 and show they have learned lessons against the top sides.