No room for error in Russia

ITALY
Italy have organised three friendlies this year, FC Internazionale Milano striker Mattia Destro scoring all the goals in the 3-0 home defeat of Turkey in January. The same player gave Italy the lead against Germany on 18 March in Sacile but the visitors scored a late equaliser. "The result is fair," said coach Massimo Piscedda. "In the first half Germany were superior to us physically, so in the second we played much better with the ball on the ground. Germany are a great side, that's why I'm happy with the performance of my players. They are on the right path." Italy showed as much in their final warm-up engagement, AC Milan striker Gianmarco Zigoni scoring late on to earn a 1-0 defeat of Switzerland on 21 April.

Qualifying round: Albania 5-0, San Marino 4-0, Republic of Ireland 2-0 (Group 1 winners)

Key players: Mattia Destro (forward, FC Internazionale Milano), Michelangelo Albertazzi (defender, AC Milan), Jacopo Sala (midfielder, Chelsea FC), Fabio Borini (striker, Chelsea FC)

RUSSIA
First-choice goalkeeper Artur Nigmatullin, who plays for PFC CSKA Moskva, will be missing, his absence leaving FC Zenit St. Petersburg's youth-team goalkeeper Andrei Zaitsev to take over between the posts. There is some good news for head coach Nikolai Savichev, however, as midfielder Yuri Petrakov is expected to be fit for the opening game against Northern Ireland following a rib injury.

Qualifying round: Latvia 1-1, Liechtestein 6-0, Hungary 2-1 (Group 9 winners)

Key players: Georgi Schennikov (defender, PFC CSKA Moskva), Alan Gatagov (midfielder, FC Lokomotiv Moskva), Irakli Logua (striker, FC Dinamo Moskva)

CZECH REPUBLIC
Hopes are high the Czechs can emulate the crop of 2008, who reached the semi-finals on home soil, with a 3-2 friendly defeat of Germany on 5 May further boosting morale. Coach Jaroslav Hřebík was without  forwards Václav Kadlec and Matěj Vydra – neither of whom appeared in qualifying – for that game with both needed by their clubs for the conclusion of the Czech league season. Hřebík, who will be on familiar ground in Russia having had a spell in charge of FC Dinamo Moskva in 2004, was delighted with his side's most recent performance, saying: "Germany are a strong side and we matched them in every way. We had more chances and deserved the victory."

Qualifying round: Cyprus 3-1, Malta 4-0, Netherlands 0-1 (Group 10 runners-up)

Key players: Václav Kadlec (forward, AC Sparta Praha), Matěj Vydra (forward, FC Baník Ostrava), Antonín Fantiš (forward, 1. FK Příbram)

NORTHERN IRELAND
Steve Beaglehole's side qualified unbeaten and have been in decent form since booking their place in the elite round with an impressive 4-0 dismantling of Bosnia-Herzegovina, beating Wales 1-0 and losing by the same scoreline to four-time champions Spain. The coach is keen to follow the example set by senior coach Nigel Worthington, saying: "If we can get at them and play like Nigel wants all the teams to do, close them down, if we have the energy to do that – because it will be hot and it's after a long, hard season – then anything can happen."

Qualifying round: Bulgaria 1-1, Iceland 0-0, Bosnia-Herzegovina 4-0 (Group 7 runners-up)

Key players: Conor McLaughlin (defender, Preston North End FC), Oliver Norwood (midfielder, Manchester United FC), Liam Boyce (centre-forward, Cliftonville FC)