VAR could be used in Nations League semi-finals and Champions League knockout stages

Uefa could introduce VAR for the Nations League semi-finals in June after England booked their place in Portugal with Sunday’s dramatic 2-1 win over Croatia at Wembley.

European football’s governing body announced in September that VAR would be phased in across various competitions — including the Champions League — from next year but it is not scheduled to be introduced in the Nations League until 2021.

However, Uefa’s executive committee meet in Dublin on December 3 where they will consider fast-tracking VAR for this season’s Champions League knockouts and the four-team Nations League finals. The technology is set to be trialled in one or two international friendlies before next summer’s tournament.

VAR is being given increased consideration amid fears of game-changing mistakes on the biggest stage, with the decision to incorrectly award Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling with a penalty in the Champions League group game against Shakhtar Donetsk this month attracting criticism.

The technology was considered a success at this summer’s World Cup in Russia and Uefa are said to believe that a sufficient number of officials are now comfortable using it.

The draw for the Nations League finals will also be made on December 3, with Switzerland and hosts Portugal already in the hat and the fourth nation to be confirmed today. France or Holland could still qualify, with the Dutch needing a point in Germany this evening to top their group.

The FA will formulate a plan for the inaugural tournament once they have learned England’s semi-final opponents.

Manager Gareth Southgate faces a delicate negotiation with top Premier League clubs over when players will be released. Southgate is likely to want more time to prepare his squad than for a typical qualification double-header but the likes of captain Harry Kane, who scored a late winner at the national stadium yesterday afternoon, will be playing competitively in the fourth summer in the last five years, having barely had a month off between England’s World Cup campaign and the start of the Premier League season.

Southgate will also have to keep an eye on the Champions League, with this season’s Final in Madrid on June 1 — four days before the first Nations League semi-final.

Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino and Liverpool’s Jurgen Klopp are among the Premier League bosses to have publicly questioned the wisdom of beginning another competitive international tournament so soon after the World Cup.

Earlier this season, Pochettino said: “It’s dangerous. The football business today does not care about the player. It’s all about games, games, games.” Klopp, meanwhile, described the competition’s schedule as “senseless”.

The draw for Euro 2020 qualifying takes place on December 2, with the matches from March to November 2019. The four Nations League finalists have a guaranteed Euro 2020 playoff in the unlikely event that they should not qualify automatically.

There will be five groups of five teams and five groups of six teams, with the top two nations in the 10 groups going directly to the finals. The Nations League finalists will be guaranteed a spot in a five-team group, leaving them with two fewer qualification games.