England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson was however relieved to have avoided the toughest European match-up with Holland pitted against the Czech Republic in Group 1 just days after being drawn to face each other in the Euro 2004 finals.

"The draw is okay," said Eriksson.

"Wales are obviously a very strong team. They had a good qualifying competition for Euro 2004. I am just happy to have avoided Holland."

Wales manager Mark Hughes had personal reasons to be relishing the challenge of facing England.

"It's a great draw for us," said the former Manchester United striker.

"When the ball came out and we were paired with England I honestly thought 'this is fantastic'.

"It's been 20 years since England and Wales played. I remember it well because I scored the winning goal that night and it was on my debut, in my home town of Wrexham."

England and Wales's group 6 also includes Northern Ireland, who failed miserably to qualify for Euro 2004, and Poland, Austria and Azerbaijan.

Hughes said he was optimistic of leading Wales to their first international finals since 1958 after digesting the disappointment of failing in the play-offs for Euro 2004 against Russia.

"It's going to be tough of course," Hughes said.

"England are one of the top teams in the world at the moment, but the disappointment of the European campaign also proved to us that we can compete at the highest level."

Only the eight group winners and the two best runners-up qualify for the finals from the European zone - the remaining six runners-up are drawn into play-offs.

Italy, who won the last of their three World Cups in 1982, have an easier-looking draw against Slovenia, Scotland, Norway, Belarus and Moldova.

But Italy coach Giovanni Trappatoni believes a tough task lies ahead.

"Our group is the hardest without doubt. Before we play at Hampden against Scotland, we must remember that we lost in Cardiff against Wales in the qualifiers for Euro 2004, which put us in a lot of difficulty."

Scotland coach Berti Vogts said his side could claim the runners-up spot.

"I think it is possible. We beat Holland at home in the Euro 2004 playoffs and perhaps we could do the same against Italy. It's not a bad draw for us," said the German manager.

France, the 1998 World Cup winners, were paired with the Republic of Ireland who have qualified for two of the last three World Cups, but coach Jacques Santini was happy with the draw for Group 4.

"There were two or three big teams that we had to avoid and we've been lucky in that respect," admitted Santini.

Spain will be confident of winning a modest Group 7, where the strongest opposition will come from Belgium and Serbia and Montenegro.

Portugal, who host the Euro 2004 finals, face Russia and Slovakia in Group 3. Turkey, surprise World Cup semifinalists last year, face Denmark and Greece in Group 2.

Cameroon coach Winfried Schafer called on his side to prove they are the best in Africa after they were drawn against Egypt and the Cote d'Ivoire.

After failing to live up to expectations in the last World Cup in Japan and South Korea, Schafer knows the pressure is on because only the winners of the five African groups qualify for the finals.

"We are the biggest team in Africa and we have to show that," said Schafer. "Our fans expect us to travel to the World Cup in Germany come 2006.

"We do not want to disappoint them."

Senegal, the surprise quarterfinalists last year in Asia on their World Cup debut, were drawn against Mali, Zambia, Liberia, Togo and Congo in Group 1. The most competitive group in Africa appears to be Group 5, in which north African rivals Tunisia are up against Morocco.

South Africa, who are one of the front runners in the race to stage the 2010 World Cup, were pitted against the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burkina Faso in Group 2.

African football powers Nigeria have a tough draw against Algeria and Zimbabwe.

Japan must face Oman, India and Singapore in Group 3 of the Asian qualifying competition.

South Korea, who reached the semifinals of the 2002 World Cup finals that they co-hosted with Japan, will play against Lebanon, Vietnam and the Maldives in Group 7.

Europe will contribute 13 of the 32 finalists, plus Germany as host nation.

The Asian region provides four automatic qualifiers, Africa five, South America has four automatic places and three teams from North, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF) region qualify automatically.

The winner in Oceania faces a play-off against the fifth-placed South American team, while the fourth CONCACAF team plays off against the team, which finishes fifth in Asia.