Qualifying for France was no easy affair. After a turbulent World Cup campaign, they were quickly thrust into further turmoil with a home defeat against a well-organised Belarus side, though that would be their sole defeat of the campaign.

Crucial to their quest was their immediate ability to bounce back in Bosnia, where they defeated the hosts 2-0. A series of solid if unspectacular performances followed, leaving their final match, also against Safet Susic's side, crucial.

Edin Dzeko would give Bosnia the lead, but a nervous French side riddled with injury problems battled back and qualified thanks to a Samir Nasri penalty.

France may have won the European Championship twice, but their record in the competition as a whole is otherwise unremarkable.

Led by the great Michel Platini in 1984, Les Bleus picked up their maiden success on home soil, having barely tasted the final stages of the competition previously, and they would repeat that victory in dramatic circumstances over Italy 16 years later.

Since then, France crashed out to eventual winners Greece at the quarter-final stage in 2004 before failing miserably to make the slightest impression on the ‘Group of Death’ four years later, when they were humiliated by the Netherlands and Italy.

Better is hoped of this team.

COACH - Laurent Blanc
Appointed in the wake of Raymond Domenech’s catastrophic reign, Blanc was charged with picking up the pieces of a France side in disarray following a dreadful World Cup 2010 campaign that had left the squad fractured.

His coaching CV to that point might have been short, consisting of no more than two years with Girondins de Bordeaux, but it was also remarkably impressive as ‘Le President’ had led the Stade Chaban-Delmas club to the Ligue 1 title in his debut season and followed that up with a charge to the Champions League quarter-finals.

Blanc is no stranger to the international game, either, having captained France as a classy centre-back during their 1998 World Cup triumph, albeit missing the final due to a controversial suspension.

CAPTAIN - Hugo Lloris
Technically, France do not have a captain at the present time, but Blanc has promised to designate the armband to a player before the start of Euro 2012, and at present it’s Hugo Lloris who leads the queue to grab this honour.

Already with over 30 caps to his name, the Olympique Lyonnais goalkeeper is regarded as one of the most promising young players in his position in Europe, having played a key role for les Gones since signing from hometown club Nice in 2008.

Though veterans such as Franck Ribery and Florent Malouda have more international experience, having played in the 2006 World Cup final, Lloris is the figurehead of a new era of the French game, which is why he has been chosen as the captain ahead of such luminaries.