England drawn with familiar minnows in Euro 2016 qualifying group

England will be confident of progressing to Euro 2016 after being handed a favourable draw. Roy Hodgson's men were drawn into Group E, a group consisting of San Marino, Lithuania, Estonia, Slovenia and Switzerland, formerly managed by Hodgson. It is the second successive qualification campaign in which England will have to face Mediterranean minnows San Marino, having brushed them aside on their road to this year's World Cup in Brazil. The FA, along with their German counterparts DFB, may have opposed UEFA's decision to expand the tournament from 16 teams to 24, but will atleast take comfort from the knowledge that their progression to the tournament will be even smoother. Wales were drawn into a difficult Group B which includes the likes of Belgium and Bosnia. Scotland were handed the most strenuous assignment, drawing Germany and Poland along with the Republic of Ireland. Full draw: Group AHollandCzech RepublicTurkeyLatviaIcelandKazakhstan Group BBosnia-HerzegovinaBelgiumIsraelWalesCyprusAndorra Group CSpainUkraineSlovakiaBelarusMacedoniaLuxembourg Group DGermanyRepublic of IrelandPolandScotlandGeorgiaGibraltar Group E EnglandSwitzerlandSloveniaEstoniaLithuaniaSan Marino Group FGreeceHungaryRomaniaFinlandNorthern IrelandFaroe Islands Group GRussiaSwedenAustriaMontenegroMoldovaLiechtenstein Group HItalyCroatiaNorwayBulgariaAzerbaijanMalta Group IPortugalDenmarkSerbiaArmeniaAlbaniaFrance* *France qualify as hosts, but will play friendlies against teams in Group I. There will be no points awarded for games in which France figure, so these will have no affect on the Group I table. Qualifiers to be played between September 7, 2014 and October 13, 2015. Play-off matches to be played in November 2015.  

Source: DSG