England8217;s World Cup nightmare true

Apart from the presence of the Germans however, the draw was relatively kind to Kevin Keegan8217;s men. Their other opponents in Group 9 8212; Greece, Finland and Albania 8212; do not look strong enough to deprive them the runners-up spot in the group.

Teams that finish second get another chance to qualify through one-off play-offs against one of the runners-up in the other groups or the Asian Zone runner-up.

Italy, another former winner, were paired with Romania, no longer the force they were five years ago, Lithuania, Hungary and Georgia.

The draw was also relatively kind to Scotland, whowill fancy their chances against top seeds in their group, Belgium.

But coach Craig Brown admitted that the team to beat could be Croatia, despite their decline since they reached the last four at France 8217;98. The other teams in Group six are Latvia and minnows San Marino.

The Netherlands, possibly Europe8217;s strongest current team with the exception of World Cup holders France, also got a tough draw.

They are in a six-team group with Portugal, the Republic of Ireland, Cyprus, Andorra and Estonia.