Germany\, Netherlands to meet in Euro 2020 qualifying as England given clement draw

Germany, Netherlands to meet in Euro 2020 qualifying as England given clement draw

AFP  |  Dublin 

Former champions and the will meet each in qualifying for Euro 2020 after being paired together in Sunday's draw in Dublin, but semi-finalists England will not complain about their group.

Joachim Loew's side will also face Northern Ireland, who they met at the Euro 2016 finals, as well as and in Group C.

The top two teams in each of the 10 groups will qualify for Euro 2020, which for the first time will be staged in 12 different venues across the continent.

The semi-finals and final will be played at Wembley, handing England a major incentive to go on and win the competition, fresh from reaching the last four at this year's

Gareth Southgate's side will be happy with a draw which places them in Group A along with the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, and

England are in a section with just five teams rather than six because they have qualified for the final four of the Nations League, which will be held next June in The draw for that will take place on Monday.

winners will meet and as well as Albania, and in Group H.

But with the top two in each group qualifying, and the safety net of play-offs to determine the last four qualifiers related to final positions in the recent Nations League, the prospect of any leading nation missing out on Euro 2020 is extremely slim.

The task looks tougher for as they aim to reach a major tournament for the first time since -- they must take on Belgium, Russia, Cyprus, and San Marino in Group I.

have, at least, already secured a play-off spot after topping their section.

The Republic of Ireland, with a new manager in Mick McCarthy, will meet and in Group D as well as and

must take on World Cup runners-up in Group E alongside Slovakia, and

Arguably the toughest group is Group F in which Sweden, and will likely compete for one berth behind

The qualifiers will begin in March, with the final round of games in November 2019.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First Published: Sun, December 02 2018. 18:25 IST