World champions Spain to play France in World Cup

England, looking to a post-Fabio Capello future, may not have thought getting both Euro 2012 co-hosts Ukraine and Poland in their World Cup qualifying group was a perfect draw Saturday.

But the Three Lions should spare a thought for France after the 1998 champions, unseeded after slipping down the rankings recently,  were drawn in the same group as defending champions Spain.

   Capello, who will step down after Euro 2012, said he believed England would perform well as they look to add to their sole world crown of 1966.

   Saturday was 45 years to the day since their final win over Germany in 1966 — regularly England’s nemesis since.

   But Capello thinks there is no reason why the good times cannot roll again after some less than convincing recent campaigns, not least the one he oversaw last summer in South Africa which ended in  a thrashing by the Germans.

   “Yes, I am confident. There are young players who are coming through,” Capello told reporters.

   With only the nine group winners guaranteed to advance to the finals in Brazil in three years’ time, England, who will also meet Montenegro — who drew at Wembley last year in their Euro 2012 qualifying pool — Moldova and San Marino in Group H, should be looking at top spot.

   But Laurent Blanc’s France are likely to have to make do with runners-up, barring a sensation that would leave the Spanish teetering on the brink..

   That would mean, assuming Les Bleus come second at the expense of Group I rivals Belarus, Georgia and Finland, going through the agonies of the playoffs.

   That was the French fate ahead of the 2010 finals in South Africa when they famously required Thierry Henry’s handball to muscle out the Republic of Ireland.

   “It’s to be expected that we drew a big fish as we were not seeded,” observed Blanc, who had a spell as a player with Barcelona.

   “It’s a difficult group, but I hope anyway the best two will go through.”    In Friday’s draw rehearsal England had been drawn with Scotland and Wales.

   It didn’t get quite that bad for the Scots — absentees for the past three final tournaments — on Saturday.

   But they will still have to better Croatia and Serbia as well as  Belgium, Macedonia and the Welsh in Group A.

   “Tough draw,” Liverpool’s Scotland midfielder Charlie Adam said on his Twitter feed. “But have a good chance — nothing is impossible.”   

Scotland manager Craig Levein said: “There is a touch of the unknown about it. I must admit I don’t know as much about Croatia.

   “The same applies to Serbia, but Belgium have a lot of good young players, and we are quite familiar with Macedonia. We would have preferred to avoid Wales, as the qualifying campaign will be hard enough without adding the element of home rivalry to it.”   

If all goes according to seedings then Spain, Holland, Germany, England, Portugal, Italy, Croatia, Norway and Greece should be able  to look forward to the finals.

   Four-times winners Italy, who flopped so badly in suffering a first-round elimination last summer, will meet Denmark, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Armenia and Malta in Group B.

   Ireland were drawn with three-times champions Germany as well as  Sweden in Group C, where Austria, the Faroe Islands and Kazakhstan make up the numbers.

   Last year’s beaten finalists Holland will have to ensure they see off the challenge of Turkey in Group D where Hungary and Romania will also nurture ambitions of at least a shot at second place and hence possible backdoor entry to the finals.

   Norway last qualified for the World Cup finals in 1998 yet they now have a great chance having been seeded in a Group E which also contains Slovenia, Switzerland, Albania, Cyprus and Iceland   

Group F seeds Portugal will expect to come through but Russia will expect to push them close with Israel, Northern Ireland, Azerbaijan and Luxembourg completing their section.

   In Group G, Greece, having also seen France slip below them, are  seeded and the 2004 European champions will take on Slovakia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Lithuania, Latvia and Liechtenstein.