From BBC

England and Scotland have been drawn in the same group for qualification for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

The two sides will also face Slovakia, Slovenia, Malta and Lithuania in Group F after the draw in St Petersburg.

Wales – aiming to reach their first finals since 1958 – are top seeds in Group D and will also play Republic of Ireland.

Northern Ireland will play World Cup holders Germany in Group C, while Spain and Italy meet in Group G.

In another tough group, the Netherlands were drawn with France and Sweden.

The winner of each of the nine European groups qualify automatically alongside hosts Russia, with the best eight runners-up entering the play-offs in November 2017.

In total, 141 teams were drawn in Saturday’s ceremony. Read the full draw from across the world here.

Who the home nations will play

Group C: Germany, Czech Republic, NORTHERN IRELAND, Norway, Azerbaijan, San Marino

Group D: WALES, Austria, Serbia, Republic of Ireland, Moldova, Georgia

Group F: ENGLAND, Slovakia, SCOTLAND, Slovenia, Lithuania, Malta

England will face Scotland at Wembley on Friday, 11 November 2016, with the return game in Scotland to be played on Saturday, 10 June 2017.

England and Scotland last met in two friendlies in the 2013-14 season, with Roy Hodgson’s side winning 3-2 at Wembley and 3-1 at Celtic Park.

Their last competitive meeting was a two-legged play-off for Euro 2000, which England won 2-1 on aggregate.

Scotland boss Gordon Strachan said: “Just as the sun came out in Glasgow, we heard we will play England.

“I can see why the fans are celebrating, it’s a fantastic fixture.

“The last time the two sides met England stepped it up a gear and it was a fantastic lesson – they pressurise you and you make mistakes and that’s something that sticks with us – and I hope will stick with us to fire us on.

“The good thing from the supporters’ point of view is there are no ridiculous journeys.”

England manager Roy Hodgson, whose current contract runs until the end of Euro 2016, also believes that the tie will intrigue supporters on both sides of the border.

Germany stat

He told BBC Radio 5 live: “The Scotland fixture really excite people, the recent friendly matches showed that, and we have got recent experience of what the atmosphere will be like. The games will excite the public, get people in the mass media excited too, it is a good draw all round – I think Scotland will be happy with it and we are happy with it.

“It is a great honour to be England manager – I shall be delighted to retain that position all the time people want me too, but it won’t occupy my thoughts at this point in time.

“I’m pleased to come away with a good group and if England want me to lead the team I will be delighted to do so.”

Wales and the Republic of Ireland were in the same qualifying group for the Euro 2008 finals, with Stephen Ireland giving Ireland a 1-0 win in Dublin before a 2-2 draw in Cardiff.

Wales manager Chris Coleman told BBC Radio 5 live: “We’ve really improved in the last three years. We fancy ourselves against anyone. You look at other groups – it could have been easier or tougher. There’s a lot of football to go in the Euro 2016 qualifiers before this.

“This has been the biggest honour of my career. My sole focus is on leading my country to France. After that I’ll look at what’s next.

“We’ve had a bit of fun being in pot one. It’s new for us. We’ve really enjoyed it.”

In the afternoon’s earlier global draws 20 preliminary ties in Africa were organised, the order of matches in South America decided and groups in both the Concacaf and Oceania federations resolved.

Read the full draw from across the world at the bottom of the Related Stories

IMAGES:

206 teams Ireland stat Sepp Blatter and Vladimir Putin

The draw brought together Fifa president Sepp Blatter and Russia president Vladimir Putin

Ronaldo and Diego Forlan

Brazil legend Ronaldo and former Uruguay striker Diego Forlan conducted the South America draw

Yelena Isinbayeva

Former Russian pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva was present at the draw in St Petersburg

For more on this story go to: http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/33665467

Related stories:

US opens World Cup qualifying in group with Trinidad

From The Gazette Colarado

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia — The United States’ road to the 2018 World Cup opens in November with a four-nation group that includes Trinidad and Tobago.

Given a bye in the first three rounds along with the other powers of the North and Central American and Caribbean region, the United States was drawn into Group C for the fourth round, which will include Guatemala or Antigua and Barbuda, and Aruba or St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

Seeking its eighth straight World Cup appearance, the Americans will start with a pair of games on Nov. 13 and 17. Play resumes March 25 and 29, and then takes a six-month break before concluding Sept. 2 and 6, 2016. The top two nations advance to the final round Hexagonal, which will produce three qualifiers and determine the fourth-place team that meets Asia’s No. 5 team in a playoff for a berth. The Hexagonal starts Nov. 7, 2016, and ends Oct. 10, 2017.

Mexico is in Group A with Honduras, Canada or Belize, and El Salvador or Curacao. Group B includes Costa Rica, Jamaica or Nicaragua, and Haiti or Grenada.

For more on this story go to: http://gazette.com/us-opens-world-cup-qualifying-in-group-with-trinidad/article/1556260

World Cup 2018: Costa Rica draws another ‘group of death’

By AFP AND THE TICO TIMES From Tico Times

The United States breathed a sigh of relief while Costa Ricans grimaced as FIFA drew Saturday for its fourth qualifying round for CONCACAF ahead of the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Costa Rica, which had a remarkable performance in Brazil 2014, will face a tough Panama squad in Group B of the CONCACAF qualifiers, as well as the winners of upcoming Jamaica-Nicaragua and Granada Haiti matches.

“I think it’s the group of death. We know it’s going to be difficult,” Costa Rica’s Dave Myrie, who played in last year’s World Cup, said.

The defensive back from Club Sport Herediano acknowledge the recent strong play by Caribbean teams, but added that “Costa Rica will be the team to beat.”

Midfielder Johan Venegas told the daily La Nación that Panama and the Caribbean teams who recently participated in the Gold Cup have shown that the road to Russia will be a challenging one.

“Right now we have Panama, and if events follow logic, we’ll also have Jamaica and Haiti. If that happens, it’ll be a strong group,” said Venegas, of Liga Deportiva Alajuelense.

The U.S. Men’s National Team, meanwhile, drew less challenging teams in Group C. The Gringos would not have faced Mexico or Costa Rica, sbnation.com reports, but they could have drawn Honduras and Panama. Instead, they got Trinidad & Tobago, along with the winner of upcoming matches with St. Vincent and the Grenadines vs. Aruba, and Antigua and Barbuda vs. Guatemala.

This is likely a relief for Jurgen Klinsmann, coach of the U.S. squad, which was recently eliminated from the Gold Cup semi-finals by a stronger and faster Reggae Boyz squad. It was only the second time in 23 attempts that Jamaica had defeated the United States. The Reggae Boyz also became the first Caribbean team to advance to the tournament final, which is why no one really wanted to face them in the fourth World Cup qualifying round. (Costa Rica tied Jamaica 2-2 in its Gold Cup opener earlier this month.)

Costa Rica has been here before, though, drawing the absolute “Group of Death” in the 2014 World Cup Brazil. La Sele, as the national team is known, ended up shocking the world by reaching the quarterfinals and beating Uruguay, Italy and Greece.

But that was under a different coach, and with Paulo Wanchope still winless as Costa Rica’s new head coach, confidence in La Sele from 2014 is quickly dissipating, even if the refs stole the Gold Cup quarterfinal match against Mexico.

IMAGES:
Portugal’s beach soccer team forward and captain Madjer shows the name of Costa Rica during the preliminary draw for the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) region for the 2018 World Cup qualifiers at the Konstantin Palace in St. Petersburg, on July 25, 2015. Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP
JurgenKlinsmann

For more on this story go to: http://www.ticotimes.net/2015/07/25/world-cup-2018-costa-rica-draws-another-group-of-death

World Cup 2018: Qualifying draw in full

From BBC

The draw for the 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign took place in St Petersburg, Russia, on Saturday.

The Fifa confederations of Africa, Oceania, South America, Concacaf (North, Central America and the Caribbean) and Europe were drawn. Qualifying has already started in Asia.

Europe

Group A
Netherlands, France, Sweden, Bulgaria, Belarus, Luxembourg
Group B
Portugal, Switzerland, Hungary, Faroe Islands, Latvia, Andorra
Group C
Germany, Czech Republic, Northern Ireland, Norway, Azerbaijan, San Marino
Group D
Wales , Austria, Serbia, Republic of Ireland, Moldova, Georgia
Group E
Romania, Denmark, Poland, Montenegro, Armenia, Kazakhstan
Group F
England, Slovakia, Scotland, Slovenia, Lithuania, Malta
Group G
Spain, Italy, Albania, Israel, FYR Macedonia, Liechtenstein
Group H
Belgium, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Greece, Estonia, Cyprus
Group I
Croatia, Iceland, Ukraine, Turkey, Finland
Nine group winners qualify. Eight runners-up with the best record against the teams first, third, fourth and fifth in their groups proceed to play-offs. Russia automatically qualify as hosts.

Africa

Round one
Two-legged ties, played 5 October and 13 October.
Somalia v Niger, South Sudan v Mauritania, Gambia v Namibia, Sao Tome e Principe v Ethiopia, Chad v Sierra Leone, Comoros v Lesotho, Dijibouti v Swaziland, Eritrea v Botswana, Seychelles v Burundi, Liberia v Guinea-Bissau, Central African Republic v Madagascar, Mauritius v Kenya, Tanzania v Malawi
Round two
Two-legged ties, played 9 November and 17 November.
Somalia/Niger v Cameroon, South Sudan/Mauritania v Tunisia, Gambia/Namibia v Guinea, Sao Tome e Principe/Ethiopia v Congo, Chad/Sierra Leone v Egypt, Comoros/Lesotho v Ghana, Djibouti/Swaziland v Nigeria, Eritrea/Botswana v Mali, Seychelles/Burundi v Congo DR, Liberia/Guinea-Bissau v Ivory Coast, Central African Republic/Madagascar v Senegal, Mauritius/Kenya v Cape Verde, Tanzania/Malawi v Algeria, Sudan v Zambia, Libya v Rwanda, Morocco v Equatorial Guinea, Mozambique v Gabon, Benin v Burkina Faso, Togo v Uganda, Angola v South Africa
The 20 winners from the second round will go into a third round comprising five groups of four. The winners of each group qualify for the World Cup.

Concacaf

Third round
Two-legged ties, played from 31 August to 8 September.
Curacao v El Salvador, Canada v Belize, Grenada v Haiti, Jamaica v Nicaragua, St Vincent & Grenadines v Aruba, Antigua & Barbuda v Guatemala
Group A
Honduras, Mexico, Curacao/El Salvador, Canada/Belize
Group B
Panama, Costa Rica, Grenada/Haiti, Jamaica/Nicaragua
Group C
Trinidad & Tobago, USA, St Vincent & Grenadines/Aruba, Antigua & Barbuda/Guatemala
The top two teams from each group will play in a six-team mini-league. The top three qualify and the fourth goes into an inter-continental play-off.

Oceania

Round one (group stage)
American Samoa, Cook Islands, Samoa, Tonga
Round two (group stage)
Group A
Winner of round one between American Samoa, Cook Islands, Samoa and Tonga. Plus Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia, Tahiti
Group B
New Zealand, Vanuatu, Fiji, Solomon Islands
The top three teams in Group A and Group B progress to round three. That will comprise of two groups of three, with the top team in each progressing to a two-legged play-off. The winners of that qualify for the inter-continental play-off.
South America

Group stage
Colombia, Chile, Paraguay, Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Venezuela, Bolivia, Peru, Uruguay
Top four automatically qualify. Fifth place goes into a play-off.
SOURCE: http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/33666156