Uefa Nations League and Euro 2020 qualification explained: How does it affect England?

Netherlands will join England, Switzerland and hosts Portugal in the Nations League semi-finals if they avoid defeat in Germany on Monday.

The Dutch claimed an impressive 2-0 win over France on Friday and will pip the world champions to next summer’s event with a win or draw in Gelsenkirchen.

Portugal were confirmed as hosts after they topped their group ahead of Italy and Poland to book a spot in the Final Four. The event will take place in Porto and nearby Guimaraes, with the semi-finals on June 5 and 6 and the Final on June 9, the day after the third-place play-off.

This is England’s best opportunity to win a tournament at senior level since Glenn Hoddle’s team won Le Tournoi in France in 1997. That competition featured Italy, Brazil and the hosts, as well as Hoddle’s team. Wins over Italy and France ensured England emerged victors in the round-robin format.

England’s success in finishing top of a Nations League group containing Spain and Croatia is unlikely to have an impact on their attempts to qualify for Euro 2020, however. Should their qualifying campaign go awry, their performances in this tournament guarantee them a spot in the play-offs, from which four teams qualify. But history suggests they are unlikely to need the safety net, give their recent qualifying record.

A more simple consequence is that they — along with Switzerland, Portugal and Holland or France — will be drawn in a qualifying group of five teams for Euro 2020, rather than six.

This allows those sides to compete in the Nations League Finals while other countries start their campaigns.