FRANCE
France have been ever present in the EURO finals since missing out in 1988, an early end to the defence of the trophy they had lifted on home turf four years earlier. Their second victory came at UEFA EURO 2000, Roger Lemerre's side becoming only the second team after West Germany (1972, 1974) to hold the world and European titles at the same time.

It was a close-run thing. Zidane's extra-time penalty settled a tense semi-final against Portugal before Sylvain Wiltord saved them from a showpiece loss to Italy with a last-gasp equaliser, setting the scene for David Trezeguet's golden-goal winner. Automatic qualifiers as hosts, France will attempt to join Spain on three EURO titles in 2016, having suffered a 2-0 defeat by La Roja in the UEFA EURO 2012 quarter-finals.

ALBANIA
Albania's introduction to the UEFA European Championship brought a famous win in a losing cause, a pattern that continued until UEFA EURO 2016 qualification. Having sat out the inaugural tournament, they achieved their first success in the competition against Denmark in the last 16 of the 1964 edition. A side led by perhaps the country's greatest player, Panajot Pano, won 1-0 in Tirana, but the Danes had already done the damage with a 4-0 first-leg victory.
Four years later Albania again displayed their quality, albeit when already eliminated. They held West Germany 0-0 to deny them a finals place for the only time. Since then there has been only sporadic success, a 3-0 victory against Turkey in the run-up to the 1972 tournament and a memorable 3-1 win against Russia in 2003 the highlights. Albania recorded their best performance in UEFA EURO 2008 qualifying, collecting 11 points, but missed out on the finals; four years later, they finished second in their group behind Portugal to earn a first appearance.