England's dubious reward for winning their European Championship qualifying group could be a place in the ultimate group of death next summer featuring holders Portugal and world champions France.
Gareth Southgate's side can confirm their place at the tournament as group winners by beating Montenegro on Thursday, but due to a quirk of the seeding system, which is based solely on performances in the qualifying groups, being top seeds could be a mixed blessing.
The top six seeds at Euro 2020 will be the best six qualifiers based on the number of points accumulated during qualification — followed by goal difference and goals as tie-breakers — which should include England if they win their final two matches against Montenegro and Kosovo this week.
Southgate's side are currently fourth in the projected seedings behind Italy, Belgium and Ukraine and on course for a place in pot one when the draw for the finals is made in Bucharest a fortnight on Saturday.
There will be some dangerous teams lurking in the lower pots however, with pot two made up of the four remaining qualifying group winners plus the best two runners-up, with pot three comprising the next six best runners-up.
Based on the current standings France are on course to be in pot two as they are level on points with Turkey at the top of Group H with neither likely to finish as among the best six qualifiers, while Portugal seem set to be in pot three as the best they can hope for is finishing second as they trail Ukraine by eight points.
The Euro 2016 winners are not even certain of qualification, as they only lead third-placed Serbia by a single point.
Southgate is aware of the permutations and potential perils of finishing top, but that has not altered his determination to win both games this week.
With next year's tournament to be spread across 12 cities, including London, Glasgow and Dublin, UEFA have already determined which groups the hosts will be placed in. England will be in Group D if they qualify, with all three of their group fixtures taking place at Wembley.