England face Scotland in Euro 2017 group stages

England will meet major tournament debutants Scotland in Utrecht on 19 July

England have been drawn to face Scotland in the group stages of Euro 2017 in the Netherlands.

The British sides meet in the opening game of Group D on Wednesday 19 July.

They will be joined in their group by Spain - beaten by England in a friendly in October - and the lowest-ranked side at the tournament, Portugal.

Top-seeds Germany - who have won the tournament six times in a row and last lost at a European Championship in 1993 - face Sweden, Russia and Italy.

The tournament begins on 16 July, with the final on 6 August.

Draw in full:

Group A: Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Norway

Group B: Germany, Sweden, Russia, Italy,

Group C: France, Iceland, Austria, Switzerland

Group D: England, Scotland, Spain, Portugal

Sixteen teams will take part in Euro 2017, up from 12 in 2013, a move Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin said would add "an extra dimension".

England and Scotland meet in Utrecht. The last time the two asides played each other was at the Cyprus Cup in 2013, when they drew 4-4.

Scotland go into the tournament as one of five debutants, along with Belgium, Portugal, Austria and Switzerland.

The Scots, who have never played in a major tournament before, qualified as runners-up in their group, their one defeat in eight games coming against group winners Iceland.

"It's a tough group but one for us to relish," said Scotland manager Anna Signeul. "Our players will be very motivated."

Arsenal and England right-back Alex Scott seemed to think there was an inevitability to the fixture

England recorded seven wins and a draw to beat Belgium to top spot in their qualifying group.

Mark Sampson's side are ranked third at Euro 2017, behind France and Germany, the side they beat to finish third at the 2015 World Cup.

The Netherlands meet 2013 runners-up Norway in the opening match of the tournament in Utrecht, with Belgium and Denmark completing Group A.

England meet the Netherlands in a friendly on 29 November and also have a fixture with Italy scheduled for 6 April.