A reminder that England's full squad trained on the eve of the semi-final. All 26 players were involved on Tuesday lunchtime ahead of making the trip from their Blankenhain base to Dortmund.

Captain Harry Kane was among those in action having been substituted during extra-time of Saturday's quarter-final triumph against Switzerland after clattering into the dugout area.

Talking of Kane...

Image source, PA Media

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

I don't think anything is going to drastically change in the way England play - they are not going to suddenly find some amazing patterns of play that break the Netherlands down.

Instead, if England are going to reach their second successive Euros final, they are going to have to rely on individual brilliance again.

I have not just been blindly backing them to get through each knockout round in Germany but they are definitely on the more gentle side of the draw.

This is their toughest game yet, and it is going to be very close, but I do think England will edge it... somehow.

Sutton's prediction: Netherlands 1-2 England.

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink played 23 times for the Netherlands between 1998 and 2002. Now the former Chelsea striker is very much part of Gareth Southgate's coaching staff.

"He knows the pressures and everything that comes with being a footballer and in tournament football too, so he is good to have around," said England's Trent Alexander-Arnold when asked about Hasselbaink.

"I am sure he will have input with the manager and with Steve Holland with the messages they give across to us. But the knowledge he has will be useful."

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

It could be pretty lively in Dortmund on Wednesday.

There are reports of up to 80,000 Dutch fans, external in the city for the game. That's a phenomenal number. The same reports claim up to 40,000 England fans will be in Dortmund.

There's going to be some atmosphere.

Will Gareth Southgate change his starting XI after last weekend's dramatic penalty shootout win over Switzerland?

Defender Marc Guehi, one of England's best players before he was suspended against the Swiss, is available again while left-back Luke Shaw impressed after coming on as a substitute following almost five months out with a hamstring injury.

The Manchester United player insists he is ready to start against the Netherlands but will Southgate risk him in such a high-stakes game after so long out?

England against the Netherlands. A fixture that evokes so many memories. Fans of a certain vintage will recall the night at Euro '96 when Alan Shearer and Teddy Sheringham, with two goals each, scored in a 4-1 win.

But England have suffered crushing disappointment at the hands of Dutch as well.

Marco van Basten's hat-trick helped them to a 3-1 win at Euro '88 in Dusseldorf, one of three defeats England suffered as they finished bottom of their group.

The Dutch have a rich football history and reached back-to-back World Cup finals, losing to West Germany in 1974 and Argentina in 1978.

Former England defender Micah Richards, speaking to BBC Sport, said the Netherlands had players "that can hurt you" but added: "Player for player, I’d rather have the England squad than the Netherlands squad."

Netherlands

There's some interesting news reaching us from the Dutch camp.

The Netherlands have cancelled a planned news conference tonight after a delay to the team's travel plans ahead of Wednesday's match.

A Dutch FA statement reads: "The Netherlands team will not arrive in Dortmund until tonight. Due to a blockage on the track the scheduled train service between Wolfsburg and Dortmund has been cancelled.

"The team will now fly to Dortmund tonight at 8.20pm (19:20 BST). Because of that the press conference in the BVB stadium with national coach Ronald Koeman and Nathan Ake, which was planned for 7.45pm (18:45 BST), unfortunately cannot take place. We are currently looking for other options."

Welcome back!

Not long to wait now before England's monumental showdown with the Netherlands for a place in the Euro 2024 final.

In about half an hour manager Gareth Southgate and captain Harry Kane will be appearing at a news conference to preview Wednesday's semi-final in Dortmund.

You will be able to watch the news conference live at the top of this page.

Shall we take a short break for now? Join us again at 17:15 BST for Gareth Southgate and Harry Kane's news conference before England's semi-final.

Here's a recap of the top stories from today, while you wait:

• Bellamy appointed Wales manager on four-year deal
• Man Utd increase offer for Everton's Branthwaite
• Forest sign 6ft 8in Brazilian goalkeeper

See you in a few!

BBC Sounds

Spanish football journalist Guillem Balague discusses the key battles between Spain and France on the Football Daily podcast: "It will try not to be a one v one. Perhaps what Kylian [Mbappe] should be doing is looking at how much space is being left in behind and try and run in between the full-back and the centre-back, whichever side he wants, right or left. That is a danger, because neither Nacho or [Aymeric] Laporte are really fast centre-backs. We say that the full-backs really need to push on for Spain to open up France. That is the danger and that is why I suspect, there will be [Bradley] Barcola, Mbappe and [Ousmane] Dembele up front.

"You put a wall on the edge of the box. It is literally a wall and it is literally on the edge of the box. You would say Rodri will obviously be the lighthouse, the one who will direct the operations. If you go with him and Fabian Ruiz. We have three organisers in the side. If you go through Fabian, he will suggest something else, shots from outside of the box. He will get into the box as he did to score one of his two goals. He will link up. We are going to need a lot of runs behind from everyone, even from the full-backs. If [Dani] Carvajal was there, he would present himself as a number nine.

"A lot of movement will be needed and Dani Olmo will be right, left, put the crosses in and will finish. It is obvious that it is not just going to be one key [battle]. Our insistence, that is the thing that is so different to Qatar, where we had so much possession, but didn't have a lot of chances. We insist, insist and insist, and we will find the gap."

Image source, Getty Images

BBC Sounds

Julien Laurens on France's potential starting XI on the Football Daily podcast: "You know the back five, because that's not going to change. In that back five you have Kounde who plays in Spain, Theo Hernandez who used to play in Spain. Kounde and Lamine know each other well. The midfield three will be three different defensive midfielders which makes me bleed inside. Rabiot is going to some by quite likely, Kante. then it's the rest, the other three, Mbappe will be there. The other two Griezmann could be benched, Dembele could start.

"This will be a team that is ready to absorb all that pressure with the negative words and then try to hit on the counter, even that they haven't been doing that well this tournament."

Image source, Getty Images

Chris Sutton
Former Celtic striker on BBC Radio 5 Live

France's performances have been absolutely dull in the Euros, they are a team that have made England look entertaining. But they have so much talent and have found a way to get into the semi-finals, so you can't put it past them to beat Spain, for football's sake I want Spain to win.

BBC Sounds

Julien Laurens on France's Kylian Mbappe on the Football Daily podcast: "The most disappointing is Kylian, because after the announcement of his move to Real Madrid, everything that happened, this should have been his tournament. The broken nose, plays a part maybe, the mask plays a part maybe but overall I don't think he was fully fit coming into the tournament. I'm not really sure the way he wants to play this tournament is the right one either, to not run in behind, to always ask for the ball into his feet. We haven't found a way to get him in the tournament. But also if he's not in good form, to find somebody else that can score goals and be a threat. Dembele did really well when he came on against Portugal.

"[Antoine] Griezmann is another one. Mbappe and Griezmann are two superstars in that team, but Griezmann has been so off it. Maybe at 33 this is it, maybe it's the limit of his international career and if he can't do it anymore then so be it."

Image source, Getty Images

BBC Sounds

Spanish football journalist Guillem Balague discusses Spain's campaign at Euro 2024 on the Football Daily podcast: "You can only win. If you don't win, what is there to tell? At least we've got the ability to say, 'look, it didn't work, but at least we've got a young side. This is a side with a future playing in so many ways, with so many layers.'

"There is a lot of positives to come out of it. Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams are the future of the Spain national team, streetwise and a good story behind them. All of that makes us have a really good narrative."

Image source, Getty Images

Ian Dennis
BBC Radio 5 Live senior football reporter

Antoine Griezmann is a player who has played their entire career in Spain and will know a lot of the players. He's played in part of a front three in this tournament but also a little withdrawn as well. I think with his experience and knowhow they have to have him in the midfield.

Adrien Rabiot [is] coming back from suspension [and can play alongside [N'Golo] Kante and then you have Griezmann in there as well who can try and create something.

Image source, Getty Images

BBC Sounds

Julien Laurens discusses the football history between France and Spain on the Football Daily podcast: "It's a game that means so much because of the history of the two countries. Obviously loads of Spanish immigration coming to France after the war. A lot of people coming second, third fourth generation. There's a strong Spanish community in France. There's a lot of French players that play in Spain or have played in Spain. There's also been some epic games, 40 years ago to this day, France beat Spain in the US final. We've had epic games at the 2000 Euros, 2006 World Cup. So, there's been so much history between the two countries, football wise. This is a special game, I think. I just hope it's not a boring one."

Image source, Getty Images

Ahead of the Euro 2024 semi-final between Spain and France, journalists Julien Laurens and Guillem Balague pick their combined XI from the two sides.

Chris Sutton
Former Celtic striker on BBC Radio 5 Live

Deschamps brought Dembele on in the last game and they looked more of a threat. He's very direct and he's a different player to Grizemann. Dembele is a ball carrier and he can go past players. There is also talk about him dropping Mbappe [due to fitness issues], but that is just not going to happen.

Gary Rose
BBC Sport in Munich

The countdown to kick-off is on in Munich and with so many countries’ fans having now departed, it all feels that bit more quieter in the build up to tonight’s game.

The game is still a good few hours away and it is baking in Munich - the players will be glad it’s a 9pm local time kick off - and many France and Spain fans are chilling in the Fan Zone at the Olympiapark, seeking the refuge of the shade while listening to local bands perform on the stage.

BBC Sounds

Julien Laurens, speaking in the latest episode of the Football Daily podcast, on France's manager Didier Deschamps: "At this stage now, it's all about winning and you should not really care so much about how you win. If you can win by playing beautiful football, amazing, but we know that at this stage of the tournament, it's rarely the case.

"So we know what Didier Deschamps is about and if you tell him 'your game is boring, your style is boring', he says 'I don't care, I win - the day I stop winning come and criticise me'.

"Now there's nothing you can say, he's right. Even the players are on board and said the same thing."

Image source, Getty Images