Rooney, Benzema, Kroos, Piqué among U17 stars

The UEFA European Under-17 Championship elite round kicks off on Thursday with five of the competition's most successful nations among the 32 aiming for spots in the expanded 16-team finals in Bulgaria.

UEFA.com picks out the six countries who have qualified at this level more than any others, with highlights of their final wins and a look at the stars who learned their international trade in the U17 Championship.

England
Titles: 2 (2010, 2014)
Finals: 3 (2007, 2010, 2014)
Qualified: 10
Star alumni: Wayne Rooney (2002), James Milner (2003),  Theo Walcott (2005), Danny Welbeck (2007), Jack Wilshere (2009)

• The current holders have qualified for more final tournaments than anyone else.
• Manager John Peacock was in charge from 2002 to 2015.
• England won the 2010 title with 13 straight victories, qualifying and finals included.

France
Titles: 2 (2004, 2015)
Finals: 4 (2002, 2004, 2008, 2015)
Qualified: 9
Star alumni: Gaël Clichy (2002), Karim Benzema (2004), Samir Nasri (2004), Mamadou Sakho (2007), Paul Pogba (2010), Kurt Zouma (2011)

• The 2001 FIFA U-17 World Cup winners, France lost the EURO final a year later on penalties.
• The all-star 2004 squad edged a thrilling final on home soil with a last-gasp Nasri goal.
• In 2011 they pipped Norway on goal difference with a 9-0 demolition of Belarus, still the elite round record victory.

Germany
Titles: 1 (2009)
Finals: 4 (2009, 2011, 2012, 2015)
Qualified: 8
Star alumni: Lukas Podolski (2002), Mario Gomez (2002), Lars Bender (2006), Toni Kroos (2006, 2007), Mario Götze (2009), Emre Can (2011)

• Germany's 2-1 extra-time defeat of the Netherlands in 2009 attracted a competition-record 24,000 crowd in Magdeburg.
• Future FIFA World Cup final hero Götze made both Germany goals in that match.
• Kroos is the only player in the competition's history to play 20 U17 fixtures.

Netherlands
Titles: 2 (2011, 2012)
Finals: 5 (2005, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2014)
Qualified: 9
Star alumni: Tim Krul (2005), Daley Blind (2007), Leroy Fer (2007), Georginio Wijnaldum (2007), Terence Kongolo (2011)

• Having never qualified before 2005, the Netherlands then got to five finals in a decade.
• Albert Stuivenberg led the team from 2006 to 2013 and now assists Louis van Gaal at Manchester United FC.
• They beat Germany 5-2 in the 2011 final having not conceded until that game.

Spain
Titles: 2 (2007, 2008)
Finals: 5 (2003, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2010)
Qualified: 9
Star alumni: David Silva (2002, 2003), Cesc Fàbregas (2004), Gerard Piqué (2004), César Azpilicueta (2006), David de Gea (2007), Thiago Alcantara (2008), Isco (2009), Koke (2009), Jesé Rodríguez (2010)

• Juan Santisteban was coach from 1988 to 2008, bowing out with a stunning 4-0 final thrashing of France.
• Among the players De Gea's Spain saw off in 2007, were Eden Hazard of Belgium in the semis and Welbeck of England in the final.

Switzerland (eliminated)
Titles: 1 (2002)
Finals: 1 (2002)
Qualified: 7
Star alumni: Tranquillo Barnetta (2002), Philippe Senderson (2002), Xherdan Shaqiri (2008), Haris Seferović (2009), Granit Xhaka (2009)

• Switzerland won the only previous 16-team U17 finals before 2015, which was the inaugural 2002 edition.
• In 2009 they lost to the Netherlands in the continental semi-finals but then went to Nigeria and lifted the FIFA U-17 World Cup.
• The Swiss were just the third European winners after the Soviet Union (1987) and France (2001).