By Alan Hansen BBC Sport football expert

England face French test

Sven-Goran Eriksson will look at the teams England face in the opening phase of Euro 2004 and he will be a happy man.

The first game will obviously be incredibly tough because France are a great team - but even if England come out with a draw they can go forward with renewed confidence.

If they do that and then do not progress after games against Croatia and Switzerland, then they are clearly not good enough to win Euro 2004 anyway.

After saying England and Eriksson will be happy with the draw, it does not mean they will simply ease their way through if they perform against the French.

Switzerland and Croatia are decent sides. Switzerland have got some technically gifted and pacy players, while Croatia are good going forward even if they are not quite as impressive going in the other direction.

Eriksson's record in competitive matches is phenomenal and if England get off to a good start they will get to the last eight Alan Hansen

But what I will say is that these are easier games than England might have got when you look at the other teams.

The opening game against France will provide a good gauge of how good England are.

You are going in against the best team in the world because, despite what happened to France in the 2002 World Cup, if you name the best teams they are Brazil and the French because of the quality of their players.

If you look back to Euro 2000 France were unbelievably good, and in Thierry Henry they have someone who can rightfully claim to be currently the best in the world.

He is flying, then when you add Zinedine Zidane, Patrick Vieira and David Trezequet you get an idea of the quality.

Henry will pose a massive threat

It is a big, big game, but if England play to their potential Eriksson's side will have a chance.

But in the final reckoning, the first thing you do is look at the fixtures and decide if you are happy or unhappy and England will be happy.

Eriksson's record in competitive matches is phenomenal and if England get off to a good start they will get to the last eight.

And it is interesting that when you hear Henry and Vieira talk about England, they don't dismiss them. They show England a lot of respect.

It speaks volumes for England's development that most European teams don't want to play them - they want to avoid them.

If England do make it through they are likely to face either Spain or Portugal in the quarter-final - they may have lost to Portugal in Euro 2000 but this is a far better England team now.