U17 finals get going in Liechtenstein

The 2010 UEFA European Under-17 Championship finals kick off on Tuesday in Liechtenstein with five former winners and two other past finalists among the eight contenders.

Two venues will stage matches in the finals, which run until 30 May – Liechtenstein's national Rheinpark Stadium in Vaduz and its predecessor in that role, Sportpark Eschen-Mauren. Both also staged matches in the 2003 UEFA European U19 Championship finals, though this time the host nation will not take part themselves.

Group A kicks off proceedings at 17.30CET with four former champions in action. In Vaduz, two-time titlewinners Spain, take on France for the eighth time in an U17 final tournament since the first edition in 2001/02. Over in Eschen-Mauren, the winners of the inaugural contest, Switzerland, face Portugal, who succeeded them as champions but have not qualified since 2004.

Three hours later the first Group B games begin and the Czech Republic and England – runners-up in 2006 and 2007 respectively – start their bids for their first U17 title in Vaduz while in Eschen-Mauren, 2005 winners Turkey meet debutant qualifiers Greece. This is the first time those neighbours have been matched in a UEFA final tournament.

Matches continue at both venues on Friday and Monday, after which the top two in each group go through to the semi-finals. From here the knockout games are all played in Vaduz, with the last four on Thursday week, three days before the final. All nine games in Vaduz will be shown on Eurosport or Eurosport 2.

All kick-off times local (CET), matches in bold on Eurosport or Eurosport 2.