Spain
The Journey So Far: The initial hiccup of a 3-2 defeat away to Cyprus cost Javier Clemente his job, but after Jose Antonio Camacho took over, Spain coasted through, winning seven games and scoring 40 goals.
Men For The Job: Bags of skill and plenty of confidence, with the likes of Fernando Hierro, Joseba Etxeberria and Josep Guardiola all showing that they have the class to cope with the challenges of the major stage. Still, the team has a habit of failing to perform in tournament finals and if that is to change, then they will have to keep scoring. Hierro's Real team-mate Raul is the man most likely to lead the charge on that front and with his speed and positional sense around and inside the box he could take up where he left off at club level this season.
Prospects: On the face of it their group shouldn't be the hardest to escape from. If they win it and either France or Holland slip up, then they might have a straightforward path to the last four. With so many of the traditional big names going through rough patches, Spain's day may finally have arrived.
Squad: 1 Jose Canizares (Valencia/22/0), 22 Jose Molina (Atletico Madrid/7/0), 13 Iker Casillas (Real Madrid/0/0); 3 Agustin Aranzabal (Real Sociedad/15/0), 12 Sergi (Barcelona/44/1), 18 Paco (Real Zaragoza/12/0), 19 Velasco (Celta Vigo/3/0), 5 Abelardo (Barcelona/44/3), 2 Salgado (Real Madrid/12/0), 7 Ivan Helguera (Real Madrid/4/0), 6 Fernando Hierro (Barcelona/69/23); 4 Josep Guardiola (Barcelona/34/4), 15 Vicente Engonga (Real Mallorca/11/1), 8 Fran (Deportivo La Coruna/12/2), 16 Gaizka Mendieta (Valencia/11/1), 21 Juan Carlos Valeron (Atletico Madrid/10/0), 14 Gerard Lopez (Valencia/0/0); 17 Joseba Etxeberria (Athletic Bilbao/24/6), 9 Pedro Munitis (Racing Santander/8/1), 20 Ismael Urzaiz (Athletic Bilbao/15/8), 11 Alfonso Perez (Real Betis/32/8), 10 Raul (Real Madrid/31/16).
Norway
The Journey So Far: Their early home form was little short of hilarious, with a defeat by Latvia followed by a draw in Oslo with Albania. Once they got going Norway powered away in a weak group, eventually finishing eight points clear of Slovenia.
Men For The Job: Like Egil Olsen before him, Nils Johan Semb's background in coaching is with the nation's underage teams and so he knows many of the current squad well. His task will be to continue the integration of youngsters like Eirik Bakke, John Arne Riise and John Carew with the older, familiar faces. Of those Erik Mykland, the central midfielder now based in Greece, is the one to look out for, with his industry and passing behind the front line important to Semb's attacking style.
Prospects: The Scandinavians face a tough start with a game against Spain in Rotterdam and then Yugoslavia in Liege. With everybody expected to beat Slovenia, they will need more than a point going into their last match if they are to progress. That's not out of the question, but an early exit seems more likely.
Squad: 13 Morten Bakke (Molde/1/0), 1 Thomas Myhre (Everton/8/0), 12 Frode Olsen (Seville/13/0); 5 Trond Andersen (Wimbledon/7/0), 4 Henning Berg (Man Utd/70/8), 2 Andre Bergdolmo (Rosenborg/22/0), 3 Bjorn Otto Bragstad (Rosenborg/9/0), 16 Dan Eggen (Alaves/17/2), 14 Vegard Heggem (Liverpool/16/1), 22 Stig Inge Bjornebye (Liverpool/70/1); 19 Eirik Bakke (Leeds/3/0), 7 Erik Mykland (Panathinaikos/70/2), 10 Kjetil Rekdal (Valerenga/82/17), 15 John Arne Riise (Monaco/4/1), 21 Vidar Riseth (Celtic/24/2), 8 Stale Solbakken (Aalborg/56/9), 11 Bent Skammelsrud (Rosenborg/34/6), 6 Roar Strand (Rosenborg/22/4); 17 John Carew (Rosenborg/11/2), 9 Tore Andre Flo (Chelsea/46/21), 18 Steffen Iversen (Tottenham/14/4), 20 Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (Manchester United/29/13).
Yugoslavia
The Journey So Far: After returning home from France disappointed with their failure to go beyond the last 16, Yugoslavia were rather fortunate to top Group Eight. Only a fine 2-2 draw in Zagreb, combined with some late blundering by Ireland in Skopje, saved them from being eliminated from the competition. Still, the defeat in Dublin was their only loss in eight games.
Men For The Job: Some of their best players may be slightly past their peak at this stage, with the likes of Sinisa Mihajlovic, Miroslav Djukic and Slavisa Jokanovic all moving into their 30s. Several of the team's players have been in strong form over the past season, not least Savo Milosevic, who has bounced back from his troubles at Aston Villa to become a much more rounded player in Spain.
Prospects: The fact that they play Slovenia first should be to their advantage, with Vujadin Boskov's men almost certainly moving to within a couple of points of the quarter-finals right at the off. After that, winning the group would mean avoiding the possibility of facing Holland in Rotterdam, although France would probably be too good for the Dutch anyway.
Squad: 22 Ivica Kralj (PSV Eindhoven/31/0), 12 Zeljko Cicovic (Las Palmas/2/0), 1 Aleksandar Kocic (Red Star Belgrade/16/0); 2 Ivan Dudic (Red Star Belgrade/0/0), 13 Slobodan Komljenovic (Kaiserslautern/16/2), 5 Miroslav Djukic (Valencia/36/1), 11 Sinisa Mihajlovic (Lazio/44/6), 14 Nisa Saveljic (Partizan Belgrade/9/1), 15 Goran Bunjevcevic (Red Star Belgrade/2/0), 3 Goran Djorovic (Celta Vigo/4/0); 4 Slavisa Jokanovic (Deportivo/49/8), 7 Vladimir Jugovic (Inter/33/3), 21 Albert Nadj (Real Oviedo/30/3), 6 Dejan Stankovic (Lazio/17/6), 19 Jovan Stankovic (Real Mallorca/5/0), 17 Ljubinko Drulovic (Porto/26/2), 10 Dragan Stojkovic (Nagoya/75/15), 16 Dejan Govedarica (Waalwijk/24/1); 8 Predrag Mijatovic (Fiorentina/46/22), 9 Savo Milosevic (Real Zaragoza/41/20), 18 Darko Kovacevic (Juventus/32/5), 20 Mateja Kezman (Partizan Belgrade/0/0). Slovenia
The Journey So Far: Even in a weak group, Slovenia's emergence as runners-up behind Norway but ahead of Greece was fairly remarkable, but not nearly such a shock as their defeat of the Ukraine in the play-offs. Up until then they had basically prospered by performing well against weaker sides, but the draw in Kiev must have left UEFA and the TV people as dazed as their opponents.
Men For The Job: There's not much to talk of by way of stars, although many of the players did appear in the Champions League this year as part of the Maribor Teatnic side. By far the best player in the team is attacking midfielder Zlatko Zahovic, who pretty much runs the show from around the centre circle and loves to get forward - he scored 10 goals on the way to Euro 2000.
Prospects: If Slovenia make it through, it would be one of the truly great upsets in the history of the tournament. Getting this far was quite an achievement, but in their own quite different ways, Norway, Yugoslavia and Spain should all be far too strong.
Squad: 12 Mladen Dabanovic (Lokeren/10/0), 22 Dejan Nemec (Mura/0/0), 1 Marko Simeunovic (Maribor/24/0); 2 Spasoje Bulajic (Koln/8/1), 5 Marinko Galic (Maribor/46/0), 6 Aleksander Knavs (Tirol Innsbruck/20/1), 3 Zeljko Milinovic (Linz/15/1), 4 Darko Milanic (Sturm Graz/39/0); 18 Milenko Acimovic (Crvena Zvezda/19/4), 8 Ales Ceh (Grazer/48/1), 14 Saso Gajser (Ghent/5/1), 15 Rudi Istenic (Uerdingen/17/0), 19 Amir Karic (Maribor/23/1), 11 Miran Pavlin (Karlsruhe/22/2), 21 Zoran Pavlovic (Dinamo Zagreb/3/0), 7 Djoni Novak (Sedan-Ardennes/46/2), 10 Zlatko Zahovic (Olympiakos/45/21), 16 Anton Zlogar (Gorica/1/0); 20 Milan Osterc (Olimpija Ljubljana/19/5), 13 Mladen Rudonja (Sint Truidense/35/0), 17 Ermin Siljak (Servette/18/4), 9 Saso Udovic (Linz/35/15).
