Sixteen players to watch at the Under-17 finals

Group A
Sandi Lovric (Austria)
The captain provides the creative drive in midfield and last month made his first start in the Austrian Bundesliga for SK Sturm Graz. He equalised in Austria's Group A opener against Spain, a 1-1 draw in Burgas.

Georgi Rusev (Bulgaria)
The versatile FC DIT Sofia 16-year-old thrives in the hole behind the striker, either providing assists or finding room to score himself.

Nikola Moro (Croatia)
The latest top prospect from the GNK Dinamo Zagreb academy, Croatia's captain scored three times from central midfield in qualifying.

Kuki Zalazar (Spain)
The Málaga CF forward has inherited the goalscoring instinct of his father José Luis Zalazar, Albacete Balompié’s all-time top scorer.

Group B
Dennis Van Vaerenbergh (Belgium)
The 1.88m tall Club Brugge KV forward is a mobile, fast and elegant player with a poacher's eye for goal.

Ondřej Šašinka (Czech Republic)
The 17-year-old FC Baník Ostrava forward scored in all three elite round games, including winners against Hungary and Scotland.

Felix Passlack (Germany)
The pacey captain (top right), who plays for Borussia Dortmund, is a threat down the right and equally comfortable in defence and attack. He opened the scoring in Germany's 2-0 defeat of Belgium on day one of the finals.

Jan Mlakar (Slovenia)
The 16-year-old striker from Ljubljana is on ACF Fiorentina's books and top scored in qualifying with eight goals.

Felix Passlack enjoys his goal, a deflected strike from outside the penalty area, against Belgium©Sportsfile

Group C
Timothé Cognat (France)
A rightsided forward for Olympique Lyonnais, the France skipper provides the creative spark just behind the strikers.

Vangelis Pavlidis (Greece)
A modern playmaker of outstanding technique and a leader on the pitch, the Thessaloniki-born 16-year old joined VfL Bochum 1848 last summer.

Georgi Makhatadze (Russia)
The skilful 17-year-old FC Lokomotiv Moskva midfielder provides guile for Russia and also led their scoring with three qualifying goals.

Robbie McCrorie (Scotland)
The Rangers FC goalkeeper is an excellent shot stopper and helped Scotland reach the semi-finals last year.

Group D
Danny Collinge (England)
The commanding centre-back is an authoritative presence and is the only squad member playing abroad, at VfB Stuttgart.

Patrick Cutrone (Italy)
An old-fashioned, powerful striker who works hard for his team, the AC Milan trainee scored seven times in qualifying.

Timothy Fosu-Mensah (Netherlands)
The Oranje captain, who swapped AFC Ajax for Manchester United FC last summer, dominates the defence and is comfortable on the ball.

Conor Masterson (Republic of Ireland)
The Dublin-born Liverpool FC centre-back was named 2014 Under-17 player of the year by the Football Association of Ireland (FAI).

German-based England defender Danny Collinge©Getty Images

This is a feature that appears in the official tournament programme, which can be downloaded here.