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FIFA President Sepp Blatter, left, and Russian President Vladimir Putin open the preliminary draw for the 2018 soccer World Cup in Konstantin Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia, Saturday, July 25, 2015.[/caption]
Reuters
St. Petersburg, July 26
World champions Germany avoided facing some of their strongest rivals when the draw for the European qualifying groups for the 2018 World Cup finals in Russia was made on Saturday.
Germany, who won the World Cup for the fourth time in Brazil last year, will face the Czech Republic, Northern Ireland, Norway, Azerbaijan and San Marino in Group C.
UEFA's decision to place their six top-seeded teams - Germany, France, England, Italy, Spain and Netherlands - in six-team groups rather than five-team groups to maximise revenue from TV and commercial opportunities, threw up tough draws for four of those countries.The Netherlands and France were drawn in Group A, along with Sweden, Bulgaria, Belarus and Luxembourg, while Spain, world champions in 2010, and Italy, who won the last of their four titles in 2006, were also drawn together.
The Spaniards will also face Albania, Israel, Macedonia and Liechtenstein in Group G.
England, whose only World Cup win came in 1966, were paired with their oldest rivals Scotland in Group F, along with Slovakia, Slovenia, Lithuania and Malta.
The nine group winners qualify automatically for the finals while the eight best runners-up will go into a playoff round of four two-legged home-and-away ties with the four winners going through.
Hosts Russia qualify automatically meaning 14 European teams will be in the finals in three years' time.
World Cup 2018 European qualification draw
Group A: France, Netherlands, 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, Scotland, Slovenia, Malta, Lithuania, Slovakia
Group G: Spain, Italy, Israel, Albania, Liechtenstein, Macedonia
Group H: Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Greece, Estonia, Cyprus
Croatia, Iceland, Ukraine, Turkey, Finland
Colombia, Chile, Paraguay, Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Venezuela, Bolivia, Peru, Uruguay.
The 10 CONMEBOL nations were drawn to determine the order of fixtures in South America's qualifying section. All sides face each other in a round-robin format.
A: Honduras, Mexico, Curacao/El Salvador, Canada/Belize
B: Panama, Costa Rica, Granada/Haiti, Jamaica/Nicaragua
C: Trinidad and Tobago, USA, St Vincent and the Grenadines/Aruba, Antigua and Barbuda/Guatemala
OFC (Second of four stages)
Tahiti, New Caledonia, [Winner of round one from American Samoa, Cook Islands, Samoa, Tonga], Papua New Guinea,
New Zealand, Solomon Islands, Fiji, Vanuatu
CAF (Second of three stages)
Somalia or Niger vs Cameroon, South Sudan or Mauritania vs Tunisia, Gambia or Namibia vs Guinea, Sao Tome e Principe or Ethiopia vs Congo, Chad or Sierra Leone vs Egypt, Comoros or Lesotho vs Ghana, Djibouti or Swaziland vs Nigeria, Eritrea or Botswana vs Mali, Seychelles or Burundi vs Congo DR, Liberia or Guinea-Bissau vs Ivory Coast, Central African Republic or Madagascar vs Senegal, Mauritius or Kenya vs Cape Verde Islands, Tanzania or Malawi vs Algeria, Sudan vs Zambia, Libya vs Rwanda, Morocco vs Equatorial Guinea, Mozambique vs Gabon, Benin vs Burkina Faso, Togo vs Uganda, Angola vs South Africa