The Netherlands’ Orange Army is marching through the streets of Dortmund ahead of their crunch Euros semi-final against England tonight.

Dressed from head to toe in orange, the sea of fans have begun a two-mile march from the designated fan zone in the German city’s Friedensplatz to the Westfalenstadion, the home of Borussia Dortmund.

Tens of thousands of squashed fans are being led by a bright orange double-decker bus – a tradition which dates back to Euro 2004. 

For the first time since the European Championships started, England’s massive travelling fan base are set to be significantly outnumbered by the Dutch.

The party atmosphere is well underway, with fans seen singing, dancing and letting off orange flares ahead of the semi-final which will see the Netherlands and England battle it out for a place in Sunday’s final against Spain.

More than 75,000 Netherlands fans are expected to have travelled to Dortmund, which lies just an hour from the Dutch border. 

Performing on the parade is comedian and singer Rob Kemps, 38, whose 2015 party song Links Rechts (Left right) has become the song of the tournament for the Netherlands.

Dutch fans, led by an orange double-decker bus, make their way to Dortmund’s stadium for the semi-final

A marching band joins the Dutch fans as they make their way through Dortmund covered in orange smoke

A sea of orange made its way through the German city ahead of the crunch-semi final clash

The Dutch are set to outnumber the England fans as they make the trip across the border

The winner of the semi-final knows they will come up against Spain in the Euro 2024 final on Sunday

The Orange Army has captured the hearts of the German fans 

The song has captured the hearts of football fans as the Orange Army jump in unison to Kemps’ command of ‘to the left, to the right, one more time’.

He told The Guardian: ‘In 2017 the Dutch football team of women won the tournament, and they had a big party in the city of Utrecht with 30,000 people and that’s when it goes viral in Holland for the first time, and it was also on the news.

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‘So actually, in Holland, it was a big thing already, but now it’s going like viral in the world. You have always had a healthy rival between Holland and Germany, you know, like, what you guys have, I think with Scotland, but actually in the music that I make, we call it just party music, it’s the best thing to [get everyone] to come all together.’

For many of the Netherlands’ matches during the tournament the host city has been packed with Dutch supporters filling up fan zones in their iconic orange livery.

England’s official travel club was only given 6,500 tickets in the ballot, leaving many fans at the mercy of ticket resale sites where the prices can be increased in line with demand.

The proximity of Dortmund to the Netherlands means that the Dutch will pack out the stadium. In the stands they will turn Dortmund’s traditional ‘yellow wall’ into the ‘orange wall’.

Neither England or the Netherlands have sent sparks flying in the tournament so far. But their fans have been travelling across Germany to ensure they make every game and bring the noise.

Before setting off for the stadium, Netherlands supporters turned Dortmund into a sea of orange.

Topless Dutch fans cheer in the streets of Dortmund 

The orange double-decker bus leads the loyal Dutch fans through the city of Dortmund 

They are marching towards Dortmund’s stadium for the crunch Euros clash

Police have had to close fan zones amid the influx of Dutch fans

Tens of thousands of Dutch fans have descended on Dortmund

Waving flags and jumping up and down, the Dutch fans make their way through Dortmund

The smoke from an orange flare spreads across the Orange Army 

A group of Dutch fans are seen partying in Dortmund ahead of kick-off

An England fan sips a beer on the shoulders of his mate amid a sea of Netherlands fans

Netherlands fans set off flares and climb on top of a bus shelter ahead of the UEFA Euro 2024, semi-final match between England and the Netherlands

Netherland supporters cheer in the streets of Dortmund, western Germany, on July 10

Netherlands fans ahead of the UEFA Euro 2024, semi-final match between England and the Netherlands at the BVB Stadion Dortmund

Netherland supporters cheer in the streets of Dortmund, western Germany, on July 10

A supporter made up in the style of Dutch former football player Ruud Gullit holds a mockup trophy as Dutch fans cheer in the streets of Dortmund

Netherland supporters cheer and light flares in the streets of Dortmund, western Germany

Most do not have match tickets but made the journey to watch the game in one of the city’s two fan parks, causing one to put the ‘full house’ signs up seven hours before kick off.

No more supporters were being allowed into the Friedenplatz fan park from 2pm local time because it was already too full, Dortmund police said.

Thousands were jammed into the city centre, on trams on the city’s underground and outside their team’s hotel near the BVB Stadion.

The Dutch support is so huge that Martin Sauer, the official responsible for organising the Euros in Dortmund, has raised concerns about overcrowding.

He said: ‘We have a capacity of nearly 50,000 which is really a big number for a city like Dortmund. This capacity is maybe not big enough, and so we got some problems with mobility and fans will have a chance to see the match in the city centre, in the bar or in the restaurant, but they will have to find it before and it’s maybe not easy half an hour before the game.