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[B]France[/B] finished runners up to Italy during qualifying, winning 8, drawing 2 and losing to Scotland twice (both 1-0). They scored 25 and conceded just 5 in a group that also contained Ukraine, Lithuania, Georgia and the Faroe Islands. They kept 7 clean sheets, including away in Milan against Italy when they held out for a 0-0 draw. Thierry Henry finished their top scorer during qualifying with 6 goals (19 in 39 for Barcelona this season). Nicholas Anelka was their second highest scorer with 4. France have won the European Championships in 1984 and 2000, however, they were eliminated by Greece in the quarter finals of 2004 after winning their group containing England, Croatia and Switzerland. Henry is guaranteed a starting slot with Franck Ribery and Florent Malouda on the wings. Nicholas Anelka and Lyon's Karim Benzema will fight it out for the second striker slot. However, the French have an experienced backline, keeper Gregory Coupet, now 35, has replaced Fabian Barthez and their defence of Willy Sagnol, Lillian Thuram, William Gallas and Eric Abidal, not forgetting Claude Makalele and Patrick Viera in midfield, has a solid look about it.

[B]Italy[/B] qualified as champions of the same group as France during the current qualifying campaign, winning 9 and drawing two of their 12 games. They only suffered 1 defeat (3-1 to France in Paris), scored 22 and conceded just 9. As you would expect from a tactically defensive side, the Azzurri only scored more than two goals on two occasions during qualifying, against minnows Faroe Islands (3-1) and Georgia (3-1). Luca Toni was their top scorer in qualifying with 5 goals (39 goals from 46 matches for Bayern). Filipo Inzaghi netted 3. They managed five clean sheets during qualifying. Italy did win the championship in 1968 and they were runners up to France in 2000. However, in 1996 and 2004 they have surprisingly failed to qualify from their group. Sweden and Denmark prevented them from progressing in 2004, with Bulgaria finishing bottom of their group. Alessandro Nesta and Francesco Totti have now retired, but the likes of Gianluigi Buffon, Fabio Cannavaro, Marco Matterazi, Gennaro Gattuso, Andrea Pirlo and Luca Toni still remain. Alessandro Del Piero is still going strong upfront too and with 21 goals finished top scorer in Serie A this season.

With the inclusion of [B]Holland[/B], some mouth watering fixtures look set to be on the cards in this group. The Dutch finished 2nd during qualification and are matched up against group winners Romania again here. They finished three points off the group winners, winning 8, drawing 2 and losing 2 matches during qualification, scoring a meagre 15 but conceding just 5. Only once did Holland score more than three goals during qualification (3-0 at home to Belarus) although they did keep an impressive 8 clean sheets. Their two defeats came against Romania (0-1 in Bucharest) and Belarus (1-2 in Minsk). With 4 goals, Robin Van Persie (9 goals in 23 games for Arsenal this year) was their leading marksman during qualification. Real Madrid's Ruud Van Nistelrooy managed two goals. At Euro 2004 Holland finished runners up to the Czech Republic in a group that also contained Germany and Latvia. Although they beat Sweden on penalties in the quarter-finals, they were knocked out of the competition by Portugal. Historically, from their last five appearances at the finals, Holland have been champions, been beaten semi finalists three times and beaten quarter finalists once so it would be no surprise to see them progress from the group stage. Clarence Seedorf will not be joining the squad for the finals. Their defence is strong but a good number of players are competing to line up alongside Edwin van der Saar and Joris Mathijsen at the back. Ruud van Nistelrooy is looking to break Patrick Kluivert's record of 40 Dutch goals, with British based duo Dirk Kuyt and Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink also likely to be involved.

[B]Romania[/B] won Group G during qualifying, finishing ahead of Holland and Bulgaria. Victor Piturca's side won 9, drew 2 and lost 1 (0-1 in Bulgaria) of their qualifiers, scoring 26 and conceding just 7. They held out for a 0-0 draw with Holland in Rotterdam and won 1-0 in Bucharest. They kept 6 clean sheets during qualifying, with Fiorentina frontman Adrian Mutu (23 in 35 games for this season) their top scorer with 6 goals. Romania make their fourth appearance at the finals here. They failed to qualify for Euro 2004 but they did reach the quarter-finals in 2000. Piturca likes to rotate his squad and used 39 players during qualification. The likes of Christan Chivu, and Adrian Mutu are likely starters though.

[I][B]Verdict:[/B] This looks by far the toughest group to sort and one of the big three nations will be sent home early after the group stage. Its hard to separate between the big three nations and even Romania, considered the lesser force of the four, had a pleasing qualification campaign and will reluctantly roll over to be group whipping boys. However, one would imagine that France, facing Romania in their opener, will be happier than the Italians, who face Holland in their first game. Holland had a watertight defence during qualification but they struggled for goals. Italy are renowned for their patient approach and you could easily see that game ending goalless. Holland then face France in the second fixture, and this fixture could be the key fixture in the group. If that game were to end in a draw and Italy beat Romania as you would expect then Holland would probably have to beat Romania handsomely to ensure qualification - which may be decided by goal difference. If Italy were to pick up 4 points from their first two fixtures then they may be able to get away with a point against France if they had outscored Holland against Romania. However, the French would be full of confidence going into that game given their head-to-head form during qualifying - a 0-0 draw in Milan and a 3-1 victory in Paris. Although Italy have been huge disappointments in failing to get beyond the group stage in two recent tournaments, they must be respected given they are World Champions and if it comes down to goal difference between them and Holland then they should take second spot as the Dutch struggled for goals during qualification. So, France appear to have the strength going forward to win the group, with Italy probably the best bet to fill the second spot.[/I]