Netherlands pitted against Ukraine and Austria in Euro 2020 Group C

Ruud Gullit draws the Netherlands at the UEFA ceremony in Bucharest - Foto: KNVB Media

The Netherlands will kick off next summer’s European Championships on 14 June with a match against Ukraine in the Johan Cruyff ArenA. It is one of the results of Saturday’s Euro 2020 draw in Bucharest.

In addition to Ukraine, the Oranje will face Austria in Group C.  The Netherlands will play all group matches at home, in the Johan Cruyff ArenA. The fourth country in this group will be not be known until 31 March. If Romania win play-off A, they will be moved to Group C. Otherwise it will be the winner of the play-off Path D (Georgia, North Macedonia, Kosovo, Belarus). The starting times of the matches will be announced later.

Satisfied with the draw

"We already knew that we would be pitted against Ukraine,” Netherlands manager Ronald Koeman told reporters after the draw. “We've been following Ukraine for a while and we want to get a full picture of how they play. From the moment you know you’ll be facing Ukraine, you will look at them with an extra eye. Fortunately, we didn’t get Portugal in our group."

Now that the first opponents are known, the European Championship is another step closer. Koeman is looking forward to the finals. "It's great that we play in Amsterdam. We feel at home there and we’ll have the home advantage. Hopefully, we’ll win our three games and make people happy. We are looking forward to a wonderful European Championship."

The last time the Netherlands played Ukraine was in August 2010. The friendly ended in a 1-1 draw in Ukraine, with Jeremain Lens scoring for the guests. The last encounter with Austria was in 2016. That friendly was won 2-0 by the men in orange.