With the draw for the 2010 World Cup just three days away, England will be anxiously awaiting who they will face in the group stages.
Yesterday Football.co.uk suggested some of the worst draws Fabio Capello's men could have, today we will be slightly more optimistic and look at the easier options.
Although the seedings are yet to be announced, England are expected to be amongst the first pot.
This means they will miss out on facing some of the favourites; the likes of Brazil, Spain, Italy, Germany, France and Argentina, as well as host nation South Africa.
Pot B will contain the rest of the UEFA teams and is relatively weak and Capello would fancy facing the likes of Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland and Denmark.
The third pot comprises OFC (Oceania), AFC (Asia) and CONCACAF (North America) and is another of the easiest pots.
New Zealand proved that their squad is fairly weak during the Confederations Cup, their stand out player being Plymouth Argyle’s Rory Fallon. Other sides include North and South Korea and Japan.
Finally, Pot D sees the rest of the qualifiers – CAF (Africa) and CONMEBOL (South America) – and is probably the second strongest of the lot.
All the African sides look capable of upsetting the big sides whereas some of the South Americans look slightly poorer.
Chile had a fantastic qualifying campaign but could be considered easy opponents while Uruguay sneaked past Costa Rica to qualify.
So choose any from the teams discussed, a group including Slovakia, New Zealand and Uruguay would heavily favour a possible 100 per cent record for England to fly into the knockout stages with.
- by David Brenchley
Source: DSG
