The world is still engaged in the pursuit of Spain.

No team has won three consecutive major international tourn- aments, but if the Euro 2012 finals could be reduced to a single issue it would be which country can overcome the defend- ing champions and World Cup holders? They are the national team of their age, shaped by fate, idealism and history to marry the quest for glory with an appreciation of the worth of beauty and style. They are graceful conquerors.

Other sides can rely on a stronger defence or a more productive forward line, but none has yet combined its individuals into such a cohesive sense of philosophy and ambition. The Spaniards were drawn in Group C for the finals in Poland and Ukraine, alongside Italy, the Republic of Ireland and Croatia. Their opening match will be against Cesare Prandelli's team, and it will seem like a clash of convictions: the more pragmatic Italians against a Spanish side prepared still to believe in a creed.

The two countries were among the four teams – along with Germany and the Netherlands – to emerge unbeaten from the qualifying stages. These nations, in their formidable nature as much as the depth of their talent, have become separated at the pinnacle of the European game. Spain, however, are still considered the leading side and the draw for the Euro 2012 finals simply acted as confirmation.

Germany and the Dutch were drawn together in Group B, alongside Denmark and Portugal. All but the latter country have won the tournament before, and all four will consider a place in the knockout stages within their reach. The Netherlands have shed the aggressive, almost hostile, approach that characterised their display in the 2010 World Cup final against Spain, while Germany are maturing into a side of exciting young talent and intrepidness.

They would be considered Spain's most likely challengers, but the daunting nature of the European Championship – only 16 teams are taking part, although the competition will be extended to 24 in 2016 – means either Germany or the Netherlands could fail to reach the knockout stages if they slip up in the group. This heightened tension, or competitiveness, is what makes the tournament so compelling. Triumph and calamity are separated by the narrowest of margins in every game.

Group D contains England, along with Ukraine, Sweden and France, a gathering of uncertain powers. Fabio Capello's side are already surrounded by hysterical dramas: the two-match ban that Wayne Rooney will serve, the racially-aggravated public order offence that John Terry, the captain, has been charged with (he appears in court in February), and the rising speculation about Capello's successor, with the Italian having announced his intention to retire after the tournament.

In the same way that the Barclays Premier League has become the epitome of self-aggrandisement, with the distorting combination of vast wealth and global publicity, so the England team now reflect the consequences of diminishing values. Rooney remains the one established world-class talent, but even he is susceptible to what have become the mundanities of top-flight English football: sex scandals, egotism, extravagance and the deadening lure of glamour.

If Capello is to steer his team beyond the quarter-finals, it will be a triumph of his ability to suppress the self-inflicted calamities that so often undermine England's performances in the finals of major tournaments.Their opening game is against France, a nation that suffered a similar engulfing of self-regard and vanity during the 2010 World Cup – when they failed dramatically in the group stages and Raymond Domenech was sacked – but has now recovered its esteem under Laurent Blanc.

Even Sweden, who have historically been awkward opponents for England, and Ukraine, who inflicted the first defeat of Capello's reign, cannot be under- estimated. The same can be said for the teams in Group A, but only because Poland, Greece, Russia and the Czech Republic are more evenly matched. Only Dick Advocaat's Russian side can consider themselves favourites to progress, but the group is capable of intrigue.

The tournament itself – the third largest global sporting even after the Olympics and the World Cup – needs individuals to prosper amidst the rivalries and the strategising. Spain will hope Fernando Torres rediscovers his sense of identity before the tournament, since David Villa has broken his leg and other strikers have yet to earn Vicente del Bosque's favour.

The team will remain reliant, though, on Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Cesc Fabregas, Sergio Busquets, Pedro, David Silva and Xabi Alonso, the holders of the nation's inviolable faith in passing ability as the game's most destructive and meaningful technique.

Germany are a team of tyros – Thomas Muller, Sami Khedira, Mesut Ozil, Manuel Neuer, Toni Kroos, and Mario Gotze – but there is something timeless about the scoring prowess of Miroslav Klose, who continues to be prolific for Lazio.

The hopes of the Netherlands gather around the brilliant but fragile guile of Rafael van der Vaart, Wesley Sneijder, Robin van Persie and Arjen Robben, while Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo, Alan Dzagoev of Russia, Denmark's Christian Eriksen, Luka Modric of Croatia and the French trinity of Samir Nasri, Franck Ribery and Karim Benzema will seek their own significance.

This combination, of a team's qualities and the flair of its individuals, will determine the lasting worth of Euro 2012. It remains, though, shaped by the presence of Spain, their prowess and their convictions. Scotland suffered against them during the qualifying campaign, when Craig Levein veered from caution to overblown optimism about his players.

He has grown in confidence and stature since the 4-6-0 formation against the Czech Republic, although the campaign contained narrow victories and inevitable disappointments. There is a core of talent in his squad, the likes of Allan McGregor, Charlie Adam, James Morrison, Kenny Miller and, when fit and healthy, Darren Fletcher and Steven Naismith. Scotland will watch the Euro 2012 finals in regret, not least because the challenge of reaching the 2014 World Cup finals in Brazil is even more intimidating.

The Scots face the prospect of finding a way to assert themselves amongst Serbia, Macedonia, Wales, Belgium and Croatia. For others it is the pursuit of Spain; for Scotland it is the search for relevance.