The one setback that Northern Ireland could not have withstood has been averted. Striker Kyle Lafferty, scorer of seven of his nation's 10 goals in qualifying, is fit, in full training and will start against Poland on Sunday.
Lafferty felt pain in his groin during training on Tuesday and missed the session the following day after a scan on the problem. But on Thursday morning, he was back out with his teammates and showing no signs of further complaint. "He gave us a bit of a scare," said defender Gareth McAuley.
Lafferty is his nation's standout striker and this will certainly be a game for strikers. He will be the lone spearhead of Michael O'Neill's team. Poland will go with a pair, the irrepressible Robert Lewandowski of Bayern Munich, scorer of 44 goals in 49 appearances last season, and Ajax's Arkadiusz Milik, who hit 24 goals in last season's Eredivisie. They will be well serviced from the flanks with wingers Kamil Grosicki of Rennes and Jakub Blaszczykowski of Borussia Dortmund.
And yet, for all this firepower, Polish fans are nervous their team has lost its way at the worst possible time. In March, they thrashed Finland in a friendly, hitting five past them in a blistering display of dominance that was all the more surprising because it came without the help of Lewandowski. But their two warm-up games earlier this month proved far less encouraging.
On June 1, Poland lost 2-1 to Netherlands, who failed miserably in their attempts to qualify for this tournament. Their defence, led by the uncompromising Kamil Glik, was stretched and snapped far too easily, most notably by Georginio Wijnaldum who hardly covered himself in glory in his first season in the Premier League with relegated Newcastle United. That slip-up was followed by another, a disappointing 0-0 with Lithuania, albeit with Lewandowski rested.
And of course, there are bitter memories of what happened in the 2012 European Championships. Tipped, on their own territory, as dark horses, they failed to even qualify from the group stage. Two draws with Greece and Russia, and a defeat to the Czech Republic, were a body blow to the confidence of the nation. At all costs, they'll be desperate to avoid a repeat of that.
At least the players are aware of this. Milik gave a colourful interview to UEFA this week to that effect, responding strongly when asked if Poland were favourites for this clash.
"No, no, no," he said. "There is no way we will underestimate our opponents. First of all, Poland have never won a single game at a European finals tournament. We did not win the World Cup two years ago, or the Euro four years ago. We have won nothing yet. Nothing at all! Qualifying for the Euro was pretty cool for all of us, but sometimes you have to aim higher and keep setting new goals. And there can be no disrespect for our opponents."
Disrespecting Northern Ireland would certainly be unwise. They have far surpassed expectations in simply reaching the tournament, their first since 1986. No other team has ever qualified in first place having been fifth seed in the qualification process. They are, with Hungary and Albania, arguably among the weakest sides in the competition. On paper. On grass, however, they are unbeaten since March 2015. It has, admittedly, been a run where the most glamorous teams defeated have been Slovenia and Greece, but it is a run all the same. Slovakia, England's opponents in the group stage, beat Germany last month. But they couldn't beat Northern Ireland when they met last weekend.
But there's no way that Michael O'Neill will consider his mission complete. In a tournament where 16 of 24 teams will progress to the knockout stage, he will know that there is every chance of surprising Europe once again.
No one game can be marked out as winnable. They and Poland are joined in this group by the world champions Germany, and by Ukraine, formidable opposition on their day. Their task could not be much harder. But they have very little to lose. And they have Lafferty.
"I am fully focused on my football and doing well for Northern Ireland," said Lafferty this week before adding the rather confusing assertion that, "the belief I have when I come away with the national team is unbelievable."
It would be nice to see some of that belief in his club game. At 6-foot-4, Lafferty's physical danger is obvious, but he's a very accomplished footballer as well. Marooned in the Norwich reserve side for much of this season, he scored an outrageous goal against Manchester United's development squad in November, an impetuous and deft chip on his first touch from the edge of the area. He should be doing that more often.
No club manager has ever been able to coax him towards his potential. But O'Neill has found a way. And if Lafferty can score against Poland, if Northern Ireland can find a way to neutralise both Lewandowski and Milik, then we could be looking at one of the surprise stories of the tournament.