Q&A

ON EURO 2020 QUALIFYING

ENGLAND will know their Euro 2020 qualifying fate this morning when the draw takes place in Dublin at 11am. So who’s in the draw?

England are one of 12 nations co-hosting the finals in two years but all of them are in the draw, as are the champions Portugal. Kosovo are the 55th and newest addition to the UEFA club.

How many groups are there?

Ten. The 55 teams will be drawn into five groups of five and five groups of six with the top two from each group qualifying for the finals. The last four slots in the 24-team finals will be determined by a play-off which includes teams who qualified through the Nations League, including England and Scotland, who therefore have a fallback if they do no qualify automatically.

Any pointers to which country goes where?

There is. England and the three other Nations League semi-finalists — Holland, Switzerland and Portugal — will be in the first position in groups A to D which will have five teams. The six next-best sides in League A of the Nations League — Belgium, France, Spain, Italy, Poland and Croatia — will be the first-ranked teams in groups E to J.

What? Germany not in the top pot?

Absolutely. The others have been split into five pots based on their Nations League displays which saw the Germans relegated from the top league. They are in pot two with the likes of Wales while Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland are in pot three.

OK, so England’s best and worst scenarios please.

The nightmare group would feature Germany, Serbia, Romania and Macedonia while a dream draw will see England face Wales, Israel, Estonia and Gibraltar. England will play each team home and away with two games in March, two in September, two in October and two in November.

England will know their semi-final opponents for the Nations League finals in June when the draw is made in Dublin at 1.30pm tomorrow.