Hosts France go into Euro 2016 carrying an usual weight of expectation on their shoulders after two years of friendlies. Without question, they will enter as one of the biggest favorites to lift the trophy, not only because this tournament takes place on their home soil but their team is one of the strongest squads in this competition.

The last two major tournaments held on French soil - Euro 1984 and the 1998 World Cup - both went the way of 'Les Bleus'. Didier Deschamps lifted the World Cup trophy in the Stade de France in 1998, so this time he will be hoping to lead his young squad to make a concerted assault on the trophy. It's worth mentioning that very few teams in Euro 2016 will have the same quality at their disposal as France do. Although they have a wealth of attacking options, defensively they have been hit by recent injuries.

Karim Benzema, Real Mardrid striker, was excluded from the France squad after being charged in relation to an alleged plot to blackmail team-mate Mathieu Valbuena over a sex tape, this leaves a huge hole in Les Bleus' attack. The 47-year-old manager has no alternative but to put his trust in young players particularly up front. However, with the emergence of young talents like Anthony Martial, and the recent stunning form of Olivier Giroud and Anthony Griezmann, they will definitely fire up in the attacking front. What's more, their midfield is the most remarkable. Paul Pogba will form a frightening partnership with Yohan Cabaye and N'Golo Kante, meanwhile Mogan Schneiderlin and Moussa Sissoko as back-ups.

On the other hand, Didier Deschamps' big concerns lie in the team's weak defence. Raphael Varane was originally a certainty to start this tournament, but the Real Madrid center back suffered an injury recently while on duty with his club. His absence comes as a huge blow to the team, but if fit he will be the key player for Deschamps. What's worse, Jeremy Mathieu and Kurt Zouma were not picked into the final 23 due to injuries as well. And Mamadou Sakho was out of Euro 2016 because of his doping suspension. With those crucial players' unavailability, Deschamps seems to lack alternative in those positions and there will be certainly full of loopholes in defence.

Group A Fixtures:

France face group rivals Albania, Romania as well as Switzerland. It is widely perceived that Le coq have got a favourable draw. They are expected to finish as top of the group, only Switzerland should pose a little treat to them. Hence, it would not be too difficult for France to enter the semi-finals on paper.

Since underdogs Albania reach the final stage of such an important tournament for the first time and Romania's recent form is poor though they qualified into this tournament after maintaining unbeaten in the qualifying stages, France obviously aim to attain 6 points in the first 2 group matches. Nonetheless, when it comes to Switzerland, they are hoping to go through the group stages of this summmer's Euro 2016 and take revenge on the hosts who won over 5-2 in 2014 Brazil World Cup. Undoubtedly there are full of qualities in Switzerland's squad, including the likes of Xherdan Shaqiri and Granit Xhaka. So it would be likely for them to become the runners-up of Group A. In a word, France have enough quality to top the group.

Final victory belongs to which team?

The overall strength of 2014 World Cup winner Germany and Euro Cup reigning champion Spain could not be underestimated. These two strong rivals who set to be firing on full power are also highly supported by the bookies. Whether France will have the physical and mental strength to go all the way or not, let's just see about that.