England take on Montenegro in the EURO 2020 qualifiers on Thursday and then they move on to their final group game vs Kosovo during the weekend.
Right now, the Three Lions are sitting on top of Gropu A and need only one point in order to secure qualification for the Euros scheduled to be held next year.
Obviously, Gareth Southgate’s men will be eager to pick up all three points vs Montenegro and wrap up the proceedings but it looks like even if they win both these games, they could still be drawn in the ‘Group of Death’ during the EURO 2020.
Well, England are guaranteed a place in the EURO 2020 being the host nation and will be pitched in Group D of the competition. But if the rub of the green does not go their way then they could very well be playing the likes of France as well as Portugal.
The Standard reports: “Seedings for the draw for Euro 2020 will be based upon performances in qualifying, rather than Uefa rankings, as had previously been the case.
“England are currently projected to be seeded fourth, behind Ukraine, Belgium and Italy, meaning that barring any significant slip-ups this week, they will be placed in pot one for next month’s draw, with Spain and either the Netherlands or Germany in line to fill the other spots.
“With only six teams in each pot, however, world champions France have only an outside chance of ending up in the top tier, and will likely have to settle for a spot in pot two, though they could even drop to the third pot, if they finish second to Turkey in Group H.
“European and Nations League champions Portugal, meanwhile, are already highly likely to be placed in pot three, since they trail Group B leaders Ukraine by eight points.”
If England are put in the same group as France and Portugal then surely it will be a real setback for the Three Lions and the only way they could avoid this is if France manages to win both their remaining qualifiers and move up to the top of their group along with the likes of Spain and Netherlands dropping points.
In that case, France will be able to move into Pot 1 and England will then not be slotted against Spain, Netherlands or Germany since they are all host nations.
