After the pomp of Friday's opening ceremony and the first game between hosts France and Romania, Saturday sees the first trio of matches in one day at Euro 2016.
The two fixtures in Group B will be of most interest to British fans, with England facing Russia in Marseille and Wales starting their campaign against Slovakia in Bordeaux.
The other match is the second from France's group, with tournament debutants Albania coming up against Switzerland in Lens.
With four third-placed teams going through to the last 16, every game is crucial and here we take a look at a player expected to star in each of the three fixtures…
Elseid Hysaj (ALBANIA v Switzerland, 2pm, Lens)
It would be easy to dismiss Albania as a team merely making up numbers and happy to be in France but the reality is a number of their players were performing in some of Europe's most prominent leagues last season, including those in Italy, Turkey, France and Greece. Among those were defender Hysaj, a regular in the Napoli team which finished second to Juventus in Serie A.
Boss Maurizio Sarri made him the regular right-back at his former club Empoli before taking 22-year-old Hysaj to Napoli in a 6m euro move last summer, a deal which fell just short of matching Albanian captain Lorik Cana's national record 6.75m euro switch from Galatasaray to Lazio five years ago. An attack-minded full-back, Hysaj has continued to excel in his new surroundings and is already showing signs of being a natural successor to current skipper Cana.
Vladimir Weiss (Wales v SLOVAKIA, 5pm, Bordeaux)
Winger Weiss has followed an unusual path since first joining Manchester City in 2009. Although he never made a lasting impact at the Etihad, a successful loan with Rangers and a consequent spell at Espanyol in Spain still got his senior career off to a promising start. From there, one season in Italy with Pescara ended in relegation, then another with Greek side Olympiacos was the prelude to a move to Qatari football in 2014.
While many players go to the Middle East when they are past their best, Weiss has arguably still to reach his prime and following two seasons with Lekhwiya, he joined Al-Gharafa on a four-and-a-half-year deal in January. Criticised by Olympiacos fans for choosing money in a lesser league, there is little doubt Weiss is capable of playing at a better level. Pacy and direct, he is one of Slovakia's biggest attacking threats.
Aleksandr Golovin (England v RUSSIA, 8pm, Marseille)
At first glance, Golovin is a young, inexperienced midfielder who many fans won't have heard of prior to the tournament. Dig a little deeper, however, and you will find he is the player in Russia's squad most akin to Marcus Rashford in terms of how dramatic his rise has been. Golovin only made his senior debut for his club side CSKA Moscow last year and has already earned the nickname 'The Russian Ronaldo', such is the impact he has made.
The 20-year-old has only played three times for his country so far but scored in two of those games against Belarus and Lithuania. With midfielders Igor Denisov and Alan Dzagoev suffering injuries, the chances are playmaker Golovin will be handed a prominent role against England. He is a player experts expect to impress in France and he is a player Roy Hodgson will be wary of.