England group guide for the World Cup 2014 qualifiers – facts, stats and THAT goal against San Marino!
England haven't even qualified for Euro 2012 yet, but already thoughts are turning to Brazil and the 2014 World Cup. Or rather, the qualifying process and whether England will even make it to South America.
England have been drawn in the distinctly Eastern European-looking Group H with Montenegro, Ukraine, Poland, Moldova and San Marino. Current coach Fabio Capello, who won't be in charge for these qualifiers, said: “Ukraine and Montenegro are going to be tough. If we can beat Montenegro in our Euro group, that would be important for the confidence of the team.”
The winners of each of the nine groups will qualify, while the eight best runners-up will go into play-offs to settle the four remaining spots.
Here talkSPORT takes a look at what to expect from the five teams England will get acquainted with on the road to Rio, starting with the full SP on the Three Lions themselves…
ENGLAND
Current FIFA World Ranking: 6th
Best World Cup performance: Winners 1966
Coach: Fabio Capello (until the end of England's Euro 2012 campaign)
Star players: Jack Wilshere (Arsenal), John Terry (Chelsea), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)
England will start the World Cup qualifiers with a new manager and probably a few familiar faces gone. The likes of Frank Lampard and Rio Ferdinand may well be on their way out, as younger stars such as Wilshere and Chris Smalling emerge to take their places.
MONTENEGRO
FIFA World Ranking: 17th
Best World Cup performance: Officially recognised by FIFA only in 2007 (having previously played with Serbia as 'Serbia and Montenegro'), Montenegro have not qualified for a major tournament yet. They finished second from bottom of their 2010 qualifying group, against the likes of Italy, Republic of Ireland and Bulgaria, but currently boast the same number of points as England in Euro 2012 qualifying.
Coach: Zlatko Kranjcar (the father of Tottenham's Nico Kranjcar)
Star players: Mirko Vucinic (Roma), Stefan Savic (Manchester City), Simon Vukcevic (Sporting Lisbon)
Can they beat England?: Yes! Montenegro held England to a 0-0 draw at Wembley in the Euro 2012 qualifiers last year and will play them again this October. For a team that only officially joined FIFA in 2007, Montenegro are now well positioned in the world's top 20. Stars such as striker Vucinic and defender Savic make them potentially dangerous opposition and the Balkan region – home of the former Yugoslavia – has long produced top class footballers.
UKRAINE
FIFA World Ranking: 45th
Best World Cup performance: Quarter-finalists in 2006
Coach: Oleg Blokhin, who said: "England are not so strong now and, I believe, we have fair chances for a positive result against them."
Star players: Anatoliy Tymoschuk (Bayern Munich), Andriy Voronin (Dynamo Moscow), Andriy Shevchenko (Dynamo Kyiv)
Can they beat England?: Yes! The Ukrainian league is improving quickly, with Shakhtar Donetsk reaching the quarter-finals of last season's Champions League. The national side can boast considerable experience, including that man Shevchenko, and Ukraine away are a tough prospect for any side. In fact, Ukraine beat England in their last match in 2009 for the World Cup qualifiers.
POLAND
FIFA World Ranking: 69th
Best World Cup performance: 3rd place (1974 and 1982)
Coach: Franciszek Smuda
Star players: Wojciech Szczesny (Arsenal), Eugen Polanski (Mainz 05)
Can they beat England?: They really shouldn't, but the away match will be a lot tougher than facing the Poles at Wembley. Even with Arsenal's first choice keeper Szczesny between the posts, Poland don't have much quality up front. England have not lost to Poland since 1973, boasting nine wins and five draws in 15 competitive matches against the Poles.
MOLDOVA
FIFA World Ranking: 85th
Best World Cup performance: Never qualified
Coach: Gavril Balint
Star players: Alexandru Epureanu (Dynamo Moscow)
Can they beat England?: Unlikely. Moldova lack any real star quality – they did recently beat San Marino, but also lost to Poland. England have won both games between the two countries by three or more goals.
SAN MARINO
FIFA World Ranking: 203rd
Best World Cup performance: Never qualified
Coach: Giampaolo Mazza
Star Players: Aldo Simoncini (Cesena)
Can they beat England?: No. Sammarinese coach Mazza also coaches Riccione Calco in Italy's fifth division and works as a part-time PE teacher. San Marino are bottom of the FIFA world rankings and have never won a competitive FIFA or UEFA game. With the country being only 61km wide, it's no surprise that the quality is not that great. You might remember England playing them back in 1993, when San Marino scored seven seconds into the match, giving Graham Taylor's team a real scare, although England did eventually go on to win the game 7-1.
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