RIO DE JANEIRO — World champion Spain was drawn on Saturday with 1998 winner France, Georgia, Belarus and Finland in a qualifying group for the 2014 tournamentthe first World Cup in Brazil in 64 years.
Officially kicking off proceedings for the event, the draw placed England with 2012 European Championship co-hosts Ukraine and Poland in Group H. Italy will meet Denmark and the Czech Republic in Group B, and Germany faces Sweden, Austria and Ireland in Group C.
Spain and England were the final two teams to find out their qualifying opponents in the draw, and either one had a chance to end up in France’s group.
“Either one would be difficult, but getting Spain was worse,” France coach Laurent Blanc said of the European champions. “Spain still will be one of the best teams in the world by 2014.”
The United States was drawn with Jamaica in qualifying for the North, Central America and Caribbean region. The other two teams in Group A will come from preliminary qualifying matches that include Haiti, Guatemala, the U.S. Virgin Islands and five other nations.
