England score favourable draw

KALININGRAD, RUSSIA – JUNE 28: Gareth Southgate, Manager of England applauds fans after the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia group G match between England and Belgium at Kaliningrad Stadium on June 28, 2018 in Kaliningrad, Russia. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)

England score favourable draw for Euro 2020 qualifiers

England appear to have been afforded a relatively straightforward path to the 2020 Euros.

England score favourable draw

KALININGRAD, RUSSIA – JUNE 28: Gareth Southgate, Manager of England applauds fans after the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia group G match between England and Belgium at Kaliningrad Stadium on June 28, 2018 in Kaliningrad, Russia. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)

England have been afforded a relatively straightforward path to their next major championship after the groups for the qualifying rounds of Euro 2020 were drawn in Dublin.

The Three Lions will be wary of the Czech Republic but should be confident of seeing off Bulgaria, Montenegro and Kosovo who round out Group A.

England manager Gareth Southgate challenged his players to rise to the challenge of meeting increased expectations after his charges made it to the last four of the World Cup for the first time in 28 years last year.

“We have high expectations over the next few years and adapting to that is probably key to our development as a team now,” said Southgate after the qualifying draw in Dublin on Sunday.

“We probably went further than we thought we would in the summer, but how do we build and progress? Dealing with expectation and pressure is part of that and ensuring the players are better for those experiences.

“Being in the latter stages of major competitions should be our aim, but we shouldn’t be arrogant in that because you can see, when teams like Germany are outside the top 10, the level of the opposition.

“But also we should get excited and should be enjoying these moments.”

England have to qualify for the Euro 2020 tournament despite being among the twelve nations to have been granted a host city in a historic tournament, but Southgate hopes that will act as an extra incentive for his players to make it to the big show.

He said: “You want to be in the matches that matter. The motivation in qualifying is not just the game in hand but thinking about what it leads to.

“We’ve had one very enjoyable summer and the next two can be even more so if we get it right.”

Meanwhile the draw was not so kind to Germany and the Netherlands who will meet one another in a Group C along with potential banana skin Northern Ireland.

“The group is typically tough,” said Germany head coach Joachim Loew, who is under pressure to bounce back after also crashing out of the World Cup in Russia at the group stage.

“The Netherlands and Germany are the favourites, but it should be enough for both (to go through).”

Dutch coach Ronald Koeman said the mood in the camp was greatly improved from 12 months ago. The Netherlands have progressed to the last four in the first UEFA Nations League this year after missing out on World Cup qualification.

“If you look back how it was one year ago and how the public were with the national team, it is totally different at this stage,” said Koeman.

French coach Didier Deschamps informed Iceland, Turkey, Albania, Moldova and Andorra that they would be honoured to face his World Champion team. The coach is not particularly perturbed about the group his team face which includes some tough if somewhat unfancied opponents.

“It could have been better, it could have been worse,” said Deschamps.

“For every country playing France, the world champions, it is obviously an honour for them.”

The winners and runners up from each of the twelve groups will progress to the 24-team tournament.

Euro 2020 Qualifying Groups

Group A: England, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Kosovo

Group B: Portugal, Ukraine, Serbia, Lithuania, Luxembourg

Group C: Netherlands, Germany, Northern Ireland, Estonia, Belarus

Group D: Switzerland, Denmark, Republic of Ireland, Georgia, Gibraltar

Group E: Croatia, Wales, Slovakia, Hungary, Azerbaijan

Group F: Spain, Sweden, Norway, Romania, Faroe Islands, Malta

Group G: Poland, Austria, Israel, Slovenia, Macedonia, Latvia

Group H: France, Iceland, Turkey, Albania, Moldova, Andorra

Group I: Belgium, Russia, Scotland, Cyprus, Kazakhstan, San Marino

Group J: Italy, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Finland, Greece, Armenia, Liechtenstein

Euro 2020 Qualifying dates

Matchday one: March 21-23, 2019

Matchday two: March 24-26, 2019

Matchday three: June 7-8, 2019

Matchday four: June 10-11, 2019

Matchday five: September 5-7, 2019

Matchday six: September 8-10, 2019

Matchday seven: October 10-12, 2019

Matchday eight: October 13-15, 2019

Matchday nine: November 14-16, 2019

Matchday ten: November 17-19, 2019