The match:

1: The qualifying for EURO 2000™ began in September 1998. 49 teams took part in the qualifying series. 16 qualified for the finals bringing with them a total of 352 players. There have been 258 EURO 2000™ games to date, with just the most important one remaining.

 2: This will be the 11th European Championship final. Nine different teams have lifted the Henri Delaunay trophy. The only country to win more than once was West Germany (in 1972 and 1980. The re-unified Germany also won the trophy in 1996). France and Italy have both won one European Championship apiece.

3: France and Italy have never met before in the European Championship, be it in the qualifying round or a finals tournament

4 Italy have not beaten France since 1978 but they have won 17 and lost only seven of their 29 previous meetings (includes Olympic Games).

5: The team scoring first in the European Championship final has only twice failed to win. Yugoslavia scored first and lost to the Soviet Union in the 1960 final, while Germany came from behind to beat the Czech Republic in 1996.

6: The biggest victory in a European Championship final came in 1972 when West Germany beat the Soviet Union 3-0

7: Four European Championship finals have gone to extra-time (1960, 1968, 1976 and 1996). Only one has been decided on penalties - the 1976 final between West Germany and Czechoslovakia.

8: No-one has ever scored a hat-trick in a European Championship final. The highest scorers in a European Championship final are all German. Gerd Muller scored twice in the 1972 final, Horst Hrubesch bagged a brace in the 1980 final and Oliver Bierhoff grabbed two in the 1996 final.

9: The last penalty miss in a European Championship final was in 1988 when The Netherlands' Hans Van Breukelen saved an Igor Belanov spot-kick against the Soviet Union.

 10: Anders Frisk will be the first Swede to officiate a European Championship final when he officiates the France v Italy clash.

The teams: France:

11: France have appeared in one previous European Championship final, emerging 2-0 victors over Spain in 1984.

12: France have won both major tournament finals they have appeared in: the final of EURO 84 and the final of the 1998 FIFA World Cup.

13: Marcel Desailly is the only player in the French squad to have played every minute of every French game at EURO 2000™.

14: France have had 57 shots on goal in their five EURO 2000™ finals matches. 28 were on target and they have scored 11 times.

15: France have never beaten Italy by more than two clear goals.

 16: France midfielder Patrick Vieira has committed more fouls at EURO 2000™ (17) than any other of the 43 players in the Italy and France squads.

17: France's record goalscorer of all time is Michel Platini with 41 goals from 72 games. Just Fontaine is next with an astonishing 27 goals in 20 games. Of the current squad Youri Djorkaeff is the most prolific with 26 goals in 66 appearances.

18: Dider Deschamps is the most-capped French player of all time. The EURO 2000™ final will be his 101st appearance. Laurent Blanc is second on the all-time list with 93 caps.

19: France have had to endure five penalty shoot-outs in major championships. They have won three and lost two.

20: France are aiming to become the first World Cup holders to win the European title. The only nation to have ever held both trophies at once is West Germany who won the European Championship in 1972 and then added the World Cup two years later.

21: In France's EURO 2000™ squad are 12 of the 14 players who appeared in the 1998 World Cup final against Brazil. Only Stephane Guivarc'h and Alain Boghossian are absent.

22: France have never lost a match when their back four has consisted of Lilian Thuram, Marcel Desailly, Laurent Blanc and Bixente Lizarazu. Of the 25 games the four have played together they have stopped their opponents from scoring on 17 occasions.

23: France have lost just two games since the last World Cup, a 3-2 home defeat against Russia in a EURO 2000™ qualifier in June 1999 and their Group D loss to the Netherlands at EURO 2000™.

 24: Goalkeeper Fabien Barthez has only conceded one goal from open play in EURO 2000™

25: Central defender Laurent Blanc, due to retire after the final, scored France's first goal at EURO 2000™

26: Third-choice goalkeeper Ulrich Rame is the only member of the France squad not to have played at all at EURO 2000™.

27: Only two outfield players in Roger Lemerre's squad have failed to score an international goal, Patrick Vieira and Johan Micoud.

28: Thierry Henry, France's top scorer at EURO 2000™ with three, will need to score a hat-trick in the final to overhaul the tournament's current top scorers Patrick Kluivert and Savo Milosevic who both scored five goals before their sides were eliminated.

29: Marcel Desailly and Patrick Vieira would have been suspended for the final for picking up two yellow cards under old UEFA rules, but at EURO 2000™ yellow cards awarded in the group stages were wiped away at the quarter-final stage.

30: Bookmakers around the world quote France as odds-on favourites to win the final.

Italy:

31: Italy's only previous appearance in a European Championship final came in 1968. They beat Yugoslavia 2-0 in a replay after a 1-1 draw to lift the crown.

 32: Current Italy coach Dino Zoff played in the 1968 European Championship final and will become the first man to win the tournament as a player and a coach if his side beats France.

33: Italy's highest ever score against France was a 9-4 win in 1920 and their biggest margin of victory was 7-0 in 1925.

34: Italy have won four of the six major championship finals they have appeared in. They have won three FIFA World Cups and one European Championship and lost two World Cup finals.

35: Only Francesco Toldo has appeared in every minute of Italy's five EURO 2000™ finals matches.

36: At EURO 2000™ Italy have had 51 shots of which 24 were on target. They have scored eight goals.

 37: Fabio Cannavaro has committed more fouls at EURO 2000™ than any other Italian player with 12.

38: Only two survivors of Italy's starting XI against Brazil in the 1994 World Cup final remain in Dino Zoff's EURO 2000™ squad - Paolo Maldini and Demetrio Albertini.

39: Every member of the Italy squad plays their club football in Serie A.

40: Italy have not scored more than two goals in a game since they beat Wales 4-0 in June 1999 with goals from Christian Vieri, Filippo Inzaghi, Paolo Maldini and Enrico Chiesa.

41: Fabio Cannavaro played every minute of every match in the qualifying campaign and has appeared in every match at Euro 2000™.

42: Dino Zoff played in Italy's last win over France in the 1978 World Cup finals in Argentina.

43: Presuming he plays in the final, Paolo Maldini will win his 111th international cap, leaving him needing one more to equal Dino Zoff's national record.

44: Gianluca Zambrotta is suspended and will miss the final after being sent off in the semi-final against the Netherlands.

45: In the final Italy will be wearing white kits for the first time at EURO 2000™.

46: The only members of Zoff's 22-man squad not to appear at all yet at EURO 2000™ are goalkeepers Francesco Antonioli and Christian Abbiati.

47: In the voting for Euro2000.org's Team of the Tournament there are currently five Italians in the first XI.

 48: The azzurri's penalty shoot-out victory over The Netherlands in the semi-final was their first ever shoot-out win.

49: Dino Zoff is the only Italian player to have both European Championship and World Cup winners' medals.

50: Italy have had an inferior percentage of possession than their opponents in every EURO 2000™ finals match they have played.