Belgium
The Journey So Far: New coach Robert Waseige has steadied the ship and brought back some of the stars alienated by predecessor Georges Leekens. Under the former Sporting Lisbon manager the team has started scoring goals (13 in his first four games), but whether the momentum can be maintained seems highly doubtful.
Men For The Job: Lorenzo Staelens, Marc Wilmots and Yves Vanderhaeghe (a recent arrival on the international scene at the age of 30) will all be important, but if the Belgians are to surprise then it will take the likes of Emile Mpenza to have a big tournament. At just 21, the Schalke 04 striker is still learning the international game but his speed and eye for goal can frustrate the best defenders.
Prospects: Belgium actually beat their group B rivals Italy away from home for the first time recently, but they will not be able to count on repeating the trick, even at the King Baudouin Stadium. Turkey will be difficult, too, so the co-hosts will have to be a little more proactive in the opening tie against Sweden than tends to be the case in these situations if they are to make the knockout stages.
Squad: 12 Gert de Vlieger (Willem II/5/0), 1 Filip De Wilde (Anderlecht/28/0), 13 Frederic Herpoel (Gent/1/0); 2 Eric Deflandre (Club Bruges/18/0), 17 Philippe Leonard (Monaco/14/0), 15 Jacky Peeters (Arminia Bielefeld/4/0), 4 Lorenzo Staelens (Anderlecht/64/7), 3 Joos Valgaeren (Roda JC/1/0), 18 Nico van Kerkhoven (Schalke 04/22/2), 19 Eric van Meir (Lierse/17/1); 5 Philippe Clement (FC Brugge/10/0), 8 Bart Goor (Anderlecht/13/2), 22 Marc Hendrikx (Genk/6/0), 21 Mbo Mpenza (Sporting Lisbon/17/0), 6 Yves Vanderhaeghe (Mouscron/9/0), 11 Gert Verheyen (FC Brugge/25/2), 14 Johan Walem (Parma/19/1), 7 Marc Wilmots (Schalke 04/44/16); 20 Gilles De Bilde (Sheffield Wednesday/20/2), 9 Emile Mpenza (Schalke 04/22/7), 16 Luc Nilis (PSV Eindhoven/42/10), 10 Branko Strupar (Derby County/6/5).
Sweden
The Journey So Far: The ease with which Sweden came through Group Five must have surprised even themselves, with England's challenge evaporating early on, Poland failing to impress and Bulgaria proving what a spent force they are these days. Wembley was the only place where points were dropped.
Men For The Job: Sweden have an experienced squad, with around half of the likely starters on more than 50 caps. The team's real strength is at the heart of the defence, where Patrik Andersson of Bayern Munich and Valencia's Joachim Bjorklund enjoy one of the most enduring partnerships in international football. Up front, Henrik Larsson, although in the squad, is hardly match-fit, leaving Kennet Andersson struggling for an established partner. The striker has pace and is a good passer of the ball, but will need to score more goals in these championships if Sweden are to make an impact.
Prospects: On paper Sweden really should make it to the quarter-finals (though no further) from what is probably the weakest group. If they are to progress, though, they really must beat Belgium in their opening game. Failure to win could turn Group B into a scrap.
Squad: 1 Magnus Hedman (Coventry/22/0), 22 Mattias Asper (AIK Solna/2/0), 12 Magnus Kihlstedt (SK Brann/6/0); 2 Roland Nilsson (Helsingborgs/110/1), 3 Patrik Andersson (Bayern Munich/76/2), 4 Joachim Bjorklund (Valencia/71/0), 5 Teddy Lucic (AIK Solna/29/0), 6 Gary Sundgren (Real Zaragoza/28/1), 8 Tomas Gustafsson (Coventry/3/0), 14 Olof Mellberg (Racing Santander/3/0); 11 Niclas Alexandersson (Sheffield Wednesday/41/5), 15 Daniel Andersson (Bari/19/0), 17 Johan Mjallby (Celtic/18/2), 9 Fredrik Ljungberg (Arsenal/13/2), 13 Magnus Svensson (Brondby/12/0), 16 Anders Andersson (Aalborg/14/2), 7 Hakan Mild (Gothenburg/58/6); 19 Kennet Andersson (Bologna/75/31), 10 Jorgen Pettersson (Kaiserslautern/23/7), 18 Yksel Osmanovski (Bari/5/2), 20 Henrik Larsson (Celtic/46/10), 21 Marcus Allback (Orgryte IS/3/1).
Italy
The Journey So Far: Italy made fairly heavy going of what should have been a straightforward route to the finals. After starting with three straight wins, they then drew at home with Belarus and away to Switzerland. In their second last game it got worse, with Dino Zoff's men blowing a 2-0 lead over Denmark in Naples to lose 2-3.
Men For The Job: There is the usual assortment of world class stars for Zoff to choose from, with veterans like Paolo Maldini joined in the squad by the likes of young playmaker Francesco Totti. With Christian Vieri injured, one of those expected to play a key role will be Alessandro del Piero, the pacey and highly skilful 25-year-old Juventus striker who only played 45 minutes in Euro '96 but was a favourite of Cesare Maldini's.
Prospects: Anything less than the semi-finals would be a major disappointment for Italy, who have performed poorly in their last two major championships. Of the big teams, though, they probably have the easiest group and if that helps the coach's chosen striking partnership to start scoring, then who knows, there may be no stopping them in the second phase.
Squad: 1 Gianluigi Buffon (Parma/14/0), 12 Francesco Toldo (Fiorentina/7/0), 22 Francesco Antonioli (Roma/0/0); 5 Fabio Cannavaro (Parma/34/0), 13 Alessandro Nesta (Lazio/24/0), 2 Ciro Ferrara (Juventus/47/0), 15 Mark Iuliano (Juventus/4/1), 3 Paolo Maldini (AC Milan/104/7), 6 Paolo Negro (Lazio/7/0); 16 Massimo Ambrosini (AC Milan/4/0), 4 Demetrio Albertini (AC Milan/66/3), 11 Gianluca Pessotto (Juventus/14/0), 8 Antonio Conte (Juventus/16/1), 7 Angelo Di Livio (Fiorentina/27/0), 18 Stefano Fiore (Udinese/3/0), 17 Gianluca Zambrotta (Juventus/5/0), 14 Luigi Di Biagio (Inter Milan/15/1); 9 Filippo Inzaghi (Juventus/20/6), 20 Francesco Totti (Roma/12/1), 10 Alessandro Del Piero (Juventus/29/11), 19 Vincenzo Montella (Roma/3/0), 21 Marco Delvecchio (Roma/4/0).
Turkey
The Journey So Far: Ran Germany very close indeed for the top spot in Group Three, beating their arch-rivals at home by a goal and then narrowly missing out on the victory in Munich that would have sent them through automatically. In the end, they proved too good for the Republic of Ireland over two legs.
Men For The Job: Despite performing well as a team, Turkey are short on players of real individual quality, a problem not helped by the fact that so few of them play overseas. Tayfun Korkut, Sergen Yalcin and Tayfur Havutcu are all experienced and skilful ball players with pace. Up front, Hakan Sukur will be hoping to further enhance his reputation abroad. A powerful runner, who is dangerous on or off the ground around the area, the 28year-old scored four times during qualifying, maintaining his record of a goal every two games at this level.
Prospects: Turkey see Group B as an opportunity for advancement, but assuming Italy do not make fools of themselves, there will be only one place for the other three to chase. Their performances against Germany suggest they have a chance of making the last eight, but their ability to break down Sweden will probably decide their fate.
Squad: 1 Rustu Recber (Fenerbahce/42/0), 21 Fevzi Tuncay (Besiktas/1/0), 12 Omer Catkic (Gaziantepspor/0/0); 4 Fatih Akyel (Galatasaray/14/0), 20 Hakan Unsal (Galatasaray/52/26), 5 Alpay Ozalan (Fenerbahce/45/1), 3 Ogun Temizkanoglu (Fenerbahce/60/5), 13 Osman Ozkoylu (Trabzonspor/11/0); 22 Umit Davala (Galatasaray/7/0), 7 Okan Buruk (Galatasaray/10/0), 16 Ergun Penbe (Galatasaray/3/0), 10 Sergen Yalcin (Galatasaray/30/5), 14 Suat Kaya (Galatasaray/7/1), 19 Abdullah Ercan (Fenerbahce/52/0), 18 Ayhan Akman (Besiktas/6/0), 2 Tayfur Havutcu (Besiktas/22/5), 8 Tugay Kerimoglu (Glasgow Rangers/56/2), 11 Tayfun Korkut (Fenerbahce/23/0), 15 Muzzy Izzet (Leicester City/0/0); 9 Hakan Sukur (Galatasaray/52/26), 6 Arif Erdem (Galatasaray/34/6), 17 Oktay Derelioglu (Gaziantepspor/13/8).
