Euro 2016 guide: Team-by-team analysis, players to watch, best moments and where to watch

THE WAIT is almost over. In the early hours of Saturday morning, France and Romania will kick off the first of 51 matches to decide the champions of Europe during a tournament that promises a carnival of football under the unwelcome shadow of sombre safety concerns.

Just seven months after the Stade de France was a target for violent extremists, all of Paris will be on high security alert, as the eyes of the world turn again to the country’s national sporting stadium.

Happier memories can be drawn upon, of course, with the same stadium the 1998 World Cup final venue, where Zinedine Zidane inspired Les Blues to the title, and there exists hope that a month of international sporting drama can help heal still open wounds in Paris and beyond.

The European Championships has a shorter history than its global counterpart, yet for the purists it offers more compelling a draw. Group stage World Cup mismatches are near absent, greater parity between teams demanding higher standards from day one.

What impact an expanded cast list — with 24 teams involved, up from 16 — will have on one of its major charms remains to be seen.

The five debutants — Slovakia, Wales, Northern Ireland, Iceland and Albania — certainly, have reason to be grateful for a truly a pan-European affair; one in which a nation of 142m in Russia can meet, as peers, Iceland, population 329,000.

If off-field concerns weigh heavy on the French (with a police force already stretched since the terror attacks that killed 130 people also setting plans to manage any hooligan element within the expected 2 million visitors for the finals) they have reason for optimism on it.

Boasting stars like Paul Pogba, a flamboyant midfielder, and speedy forward Antoine Griezmann, home advantage feeds genuine expectation.

Spain seek an unprecedented three-peat after their brilliant possession obsessed side claimed the 2008 and 2012 titles. Their halo may have slipped after a disappointing defence of their world crown in Brazil, but with Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets still among their ranks, it will take something special to stop them.

So too traditional tournament high performers and current world champions Germany, despite recent mixed form. Italy arrive beset by injury but no other nation is so adept at tournament management.

Outside those clear favourites, an open field offers room on the rails for a number of dark horses, a description perhaps doing Belgium a disservice with their position as the highest ranked European nation in FIFA’s dubious world rankings.

England qualified with a perfect record of 10 straight wins, rejuvenated with youthful vigour drawn largely from Tottenham Hotspur’s vibrant squad. Portugal and Cristiano Ronaldo, Austria, who themselves qualified with surprising élan and a Croatia side with one of the best midfields in the competition offer value as an outside punt.