England have been drawn in the group of death at next summer's World Cup - THREE past World Cup winners.
But Newcastle's French connection must be overjoyed with Switzerland, Ecuador and Honduras.
Roy Hodgson's men will open their Group D campaign in Manaus when they face Italy on Saturday, June 14.
They must then head to Sao Paulo and Belo Horizonte for their meetings with Uruguay and Costa Rica on June 19 and 24 respectively.
England avoided becoming the European team placed in a special pot, who had to be drawn against a South American top seed.
However they ended up in the same group as Italy, who came out of the special pot. which meant the draw could hardly have been more difficult.
It means Roy Hodgson's team must face the side that knocked England out of Euro 2012 in Kiev, before coming face-to-face with a Uruguay team containing Luis Suarez and PSG star forward Edinson Cavani.
Even the group minnows, Costa Rica, will not be beaten easily given the central American country have shock potential, as they proved by beating Scotland at the 1990 tournament.
Full Draw
GROUP A
A1 BrazilA2 CroatiaA3 MexicoA4 Cameroon
GROUP B
B1 SpainB2 HollandB3 ChileB4 Australia
GROUP C
C1 ColombiaC2 GreeceC3 Ivory CoastC4 Japan
GROUP D
D1 UruguayD2 Costa RicaD3 EnglandD4 Italy
GROUP E
E1 SwitzerlandE2 EcuadorE3 FranceE4 Honduras
GROUP F
F1 ArgentinaF2 Bosnia HerzegovinaF3 IranF4 Nigeria
GROUP G
G1 GermanyG2 PortugalG3 GhanaG4 USA
GROUP H
H1 BelgiumH2 AlgeriaH3 RussiaH4 Korea Republic
Source: Newcastle United Mad
Source: FOOTYMAD
