England avoid France in qualifying

England head coach Fabio Capello at the draw for the 2014 World Cup, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Photograph: Nelson Almeida/AFP/Getty Images

Fabio Capello has warned England to "play every game like a final", following a World Cup qualifying draw in Rio de Janeiro that placed them in Group H with Montenegro, Poland, Ukraine, Moldova and San Marino.

The head coach, who will not be in charge as he departs his post after Euro 2012 campaign, said: "You have to be really, really focused and play every game like a final. England need to be careful, this will not be easy. Obviously we know Montenegro [from England's European Championship qualifying group], Ukraine we played in qualification for the World Cup in South Africa. Poland are improving, because they are one of the hosts of the next European Championship. I don't know Moldova, but San Marino will be easy again."

October's meeting with Montenegro in Podgorica could decide who tops the Euro 2012 qualifying group, as the nations are separated only by goal difference. Capello believes a win there could prove crucial ahead of the World Cup campaign. "Yes, this will be very important for the future, for the next games we play against them," he said. Regarding the pivotal away trips, Capello added: "In Ukraine the stadium will be OK, in Poland things will be OK, Moldova I do not know, but Montenegro we know."

The Italian also believes enough new potential is developing to safeguard England's future. "It will be interesting to watch some of the players next season," Capello said. "I have spoken with some of the young players at Manchester United and Liverpool and with [Kieran] Gibbs, who will be in the first XI [of Arsenal] always. There is a chance that some of these players will be very important for the World Cup."

Rio Ferdinand, who was due to be England's captain at the South Africa World Cup last summer before he was injured, tweeted: "England WC [World Cup] qualifying group is similar to most qualifying campaigns, some tricky away games but have to be looking to qualify top."

Sir Trevor Brooking, the Football Association's director of football, also thought that England should reach the finals. He said: "We can't complain at the draw. We could have had a lot worse. I [think] we will qualify."

After England's hopes had been given a boost when they avoided being drawn with France, who were seeded in the second band of nations, the bookmakers immediately installed the 1966 World Cup winners as the favourites to secure an automatic berth. England are currently 2-5 to win Group H with Poland 5-1, Ukraine 6-1, Montenegro 12-1, 25-1 for Moldova and 5000-1 for San Marino.

Poland are familiar foes. Sir Alf Ramsey's side famously failed to reach the 1974 World Cup in West Germany after Jan Tomaszewski made several crucial saves at Wembley to prevent England achieving the required victory. But they also met at Mexico 86, when Gary Lineker scored a hat-trick in a 3-0 group win.

In all, England have won 10 of the meetings between the nations, drawing six, and losing only one, and qualified for the finals of the 1990, 1998 and 2006 World Cups, and the European Championships of 1992 and 2000 after facing the Poles. Aside from Ramsey's 1974 failure, only Graham Taylor's 1994 World Cup qualifying campaign has not ended in success.

Of the home nations, Scotland and Wales are in Group A, one of the more difficult divisions that includes Croatia, Serbia, Belgium and Macedonia, while Northern Ireland also face a tough challenge, being paired with Portugal, Russia, Israel Azerbaijan and Luxembourg in Group F.

Wales may feel they have the opportunity to gain revenge following a notorious incident in qualifying for the 1978 World Cup. In a home Wales match staged at Anfield, Joe Jordan appeared to handle the ball when jumping for a header, yet the referee awarded Scotland a penalty that Don Masson converted before Kenny Dalglish's goal to extinguish Wales's hopes.

Asked about meeting Wales, Stewart Regan, the Scottish Football Association chief executive, said: "They're all juicy fixtures. But yes, the home nations always provide extra interest."

Wales's manager, Gary Speed, said: "We have a chance of qualifying. We will have to be good and at the top of our game and have to improve from where we are now."

The Republic of Ireland may struggle to win Group C, as they will go up against Germany, but should fancy their chances of finishing second ahead of Sweden, Austria, the Faroe Islands and Kazakhstan.

Spain, the World Cup and European Championship holders, were drawn in the smallest group, of five countries. But they will have to overcome France, the 2006 finalists, if they are to qualify automatically.

The nine group winners qualify by right with the eight best runners-up playing off for Europe's last four berths in Brazil.

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England breathe a sigh of relief at World Cup 2014 qualifying draw | Paul Wilson

England manager Fabio Capello talks to the media after the preliminary draw of the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. Photograph: Julian Finney - Fifa/FIFA via Getty Images

England, second last to be drawn, landed among familiar foes in a far from unfriendly World Cup 2014 qualifying group, narrowly avoiding the fate of being placed in a five-team group with France, which fell in turn to World Cup holders and current European champions Spain.

The draw in Rio de Janeiro was made in reverse order, with the top seeds allocated to their groups last, and England and Spain were the final two balls to be pulled out. England came out next to last, to be grouped with Montenegro, Ukraine, Poland, Moldova and San Marino, while to Spain fell the decidedly trickier task of negotiating a group comprising France, Belarus, Georgia and Finland.

While both Group H and Group I ought to be winnable for their respective top seeds, there is no doubt England will have been relieved to have avoided the final group.

Montenegro drew at Wembley in a Euro 2012 qualifier last October, and England face a return in Podgorica this autumn to determine which side qualifies automatically from Group G for next year's finals in Poland and Ukraine. Both of those host countries managed to end up in the same World Cup group before England joined them, and Fabio Capello's side encountered Ukraine in the last World Cup qualifying cycle, with Andriy Shevchenko's side successful in the most recent encounter, albeit after England had qualified. Poland have also crossed England's path on a regular basis in the past, though are not the force they once were in European football.

The other two opponents in the group will also be recalled with affection. Moldova was where Glenn Hoddle took charge for the first time in 1996 and where David Beckham made his competitive England debut, while San Marino will forever be remembered for the low comedy of England's visit with Graham Taylor in Bologna in 1993, complete with "Do I not like that" and "What sort of a thing is happening here?"

At least Capello will not have to worry about a repeat or a return to his native land. The Italian coach will depart after the European Championship next year, and a new man will be in charge by the time England embark on the qualification process for Brazil. Group H should not deter any potential candidates, far from it, though it is unlikely to set anyone's pulse racing either. Sven-Goran Eriksson suggested this weekend that Jose Mourinho would be the ideal contender to follow Capello, though it would be something of a surprise were the Portuguese to tear himself from the excitement of managing Real Madrid and trying to become the first coach in history to win European Cups with three different sides for a leisurely trek round the Balkans and central Europe.

Elsewhere in the draw, Scotland and Wales were drawn together in Group A, which is neither particularly glamorous nor particularly easy, with Croatia, Serbia and Belgium fighting (hopefully not literally) for the top spots and even the makeweights of Macedonia no pushovers. Northern Ireland face some long trips in Group F, with not only Russia but also Azerbaijan and Israel, with Portugal and Luxembourg at least a little closer to home. The Republic of Ireland avoided France, to everyone's relief, though drew Germany and Sweden, along with Austria, Kazakhstan and the Faroe Islands in Group C. That is quite a tough group, though with Germany clear favourites to win the Republic have at least a chance of clinging to runners-up spot and a play-off place. The nine group winners qualify automatically, while the eight best runners-up play off to provide a European contingent of 13 for the finals.

Norway's charmed life continued with an astonishingly favourable draw in Group E, where the only real threats are Slovenia and Switzerland. Considered lucky to be seeded in the first place, especially at the expense of teams such as France and Russia, the Norwegians could easily end up qualifying for a tournament for the first time since Euro 2000. They are unlikely to be too worried by Albania, Iceland or Cyprus, and ought to be able to achieve one of the top two positions.

Greece, the other surprise seeds, also have little to complain about. They avoided the bigs guns of pot two, drawing Slovakia instead of France, Russia or Turkey, and should be able to progress from a group that also includes Bosnia?Herzegovina, Lithuania, Lativia and Liechtenstein.

That's how it appears from this distance, at any rate. By the time these qualifying matches begin to take place, just over a year from now, a European Championship will have been concluded and much will have changed. When the last draw was made, for the Euro 2012 qualifiers currently taking place, everyone said England had dropped lucky with an easy group.

That was before not just Montenegro but Switzerland came to Wembley and escaped with a point. England are still joint top of the group, on goal difference from Montenegro, but the game in Podgorica this October now looms even larger than before. If England win, they will qualify and the future will look secure. Lose, and the next England manager will know he has to negotiate the same opponents. It was exactly the situation that greeted Capello when he took over from Steve McClaren and then faced Croatia. He dealt with it remarkably well, and if he can do the same in Montenegro all should be well. Should he fail, the main problem for the next man will be taking over a team whose nemesis is no longer Germany, or even Croatia, but a team that have yet to make their first appearance in a World Cup tournament.

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England v India - live!

England's Stuart Broad acknowledges the applause of the crowd after his hat-trick against India at Trent Bridge. Photograph: Jon Super/AP12th over: England 24-1 (trailed by 67 on first innings; Strauss 6, Bell 9) Sreesanth bowls the first over of the day, trying to draw Bell into driving outside off stump. He doesn't, so it's a maiden. "First! (Sorry)" says Ryan Dunne. "Do teams still get the giant mace if they become No1 team in the world? Would it be put on display on Lord's or the like, or would Swann be allowed to play about with it for cool Twitter photos? I remember when Duncan Fletcher said (well, he would) that his achievements with England in the 00s far dwarfed anything the country managed in the 80s; could a case be made that England deserve serious plaudits (including more gongs from the Queen) if they reach No1, or has Test cricket overall declined too much from the heady days of 2005?" I think it'll be a huge achievement if England manage it. Fletcher was right; England were often hopeless in the 1980s. Scyld Berry wrote a fine piece on that subject in the very first edition of The Wisden Cricketer. And yeah, they do get the mace.

"Good morning," says John Starbuck. "It's been announced that Trott will bat though no-one knows what position yet." Crikey, that is a surprise. No10 or 11?

Thought for the day This series is going to kick off very soon, isn't it?

Trottwatch He faced only two balls in practice this morning before going off for an injection. It seems very unlikely he will bat.

Preamble Morning. These days everyone wants to be FIRST! We're a culture obsessed with the first: first impression, first match of the season, first meal (Paulie Walnuts says breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and wise men don't argue with Paulie), first date, first injunction, first pint after eight hours kissing the feet of The Man. In some contexts, however, the second is far more important. For example, a monstrous slab of lunchtime meat at The Hawksmoor trumps Frosties anyday, although you can tell Paulie that. Similarly, the second set of a tennis match is surely the most significant, when the contest is almost completed at 2-0 or comes alive at 1-1.

That's the scenario we have at Trent Bridge today, where an excellent Test match will probably be decided, if not actually completed. Either England go 2-0 up or India level it at 1-1 with power, Sehwag and Zaheer to add. The English cricket lover in me is desperate for England to win; the Test cricket lover in me is equally desperate for India to win. Think about how empty 2005 would have been had Australia gone 2-0 up at Edgbaston, and not just because England were losing.

Six years ago we had the best of both worlds – an epic series and an England win. So this time we want India to win here, England to win by one wicket at Edgbaston and then by one run at The Oval, thus clinching the series 3-1 and going top of the Test Championship. Is that so much to ask?

All that said, I suppose we could live with England winning by 114 runs here after a staggering 121-ball 132 from Eoin Morgan.

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