England’s support set to be outnumbered for the first time at Euro 2024 with Netherlands expected to have a 60% share of the crowd at Wednesday’s semi-final

England are expected to be outnumbered for the first time in European Championship history when they face the Netherlands in the semi-final on Wednesday.

Gareth Southgate’s men have enjoyed home advantage in almost all of their games so far, with stadiums across Germany adorned with the St George’s flag.

However, authorities expect Ronald Koeman’s team to be able to count on the support of the majority of the 80,000 spectators in Dortmund, with a likely 60-40 split.

The Dutch have already secured an early victory after it emerged that at least half of Dortmund’s famous ‘Yellow Wall’ will be painted orange. UEFA has allocated 50 per cent of the area at the Westfalenstadion, famous for its noisy sound, to Dutch fans, with the other half going on general sale.

Officially, both countries have been allocated 8,000 tickets, while a further 1,500 have been sold to England’s opponents.

The Dutch expect 80,000 of their supporters to make the relatively short journey. A repeat of the 40,000 English fans who travelled to Dusseldorf for the quarter-final is likely, with both sets of fans fighting for places.

Meanwhile, security staff will be on high alert amid reports that England fans have gained access to their quarter-final against Switzerland by ‘double-lining’ at the turnstiles.

Mail Sport has seen evidence that some players have boasted about their ability to get into the Düsseldorf Arena by squeezing through the door behind a fan with a valid ticket. They are now planning a replay on Wednesday.

Five people were arrested for trying to enter the stadium without a ticket, but others have boasted of having managed to get in. Such a scenario would pose a significant security risk – amid the huge interest in the match – with the venue likely to be bursting at the seams with tickets on the resale market going for as much as £1,270.