Football
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England paired with Scotland in World Cup qualifying group stage

England and Scotland will have two mouthwatering clashes in the qualifying competition for the 2018 World Cup after the home nations were drawn in the same group for first time in all the years of their fierce rivalry.

The two countries will battle it out for supremacy in Group F along with Slovakia, Slovenia, Lithuania and Malta. The winners will qualify automatically for the finals in Russia, with the runners-up having to take part in a play-off.

It is the first time England and Scotland have been drawn together to play a World Cup match, although the home nations championship did act as a qualifying competition for the 1950 and 1954 World Cups.

England and Scotland first played each other 143 years ago -- the first ever international -- and their last competitive meeting was in a play-off for Euro 2000, where England went through 2-1 on aggregate. England also triumphed in two friendly meetings last year and in 2013.

England manager Roy Hodgson's current contract expires after the Euro 2016 finals next July and the 67-year-old said he would love to be given the chance to coach the national side in the World Cup qualifying campaign.

Hodgson, speaking in St Petersburg after the draw, said: "It's not something I want to give up lightly but if the FA want me to stay on I would be delighted to do so. The England-Scotland fixture, that is going to capture the imagination. England v Scotland fixtures go back a long, long way in history and there has been many a fierce encounter along the way."

Scotland manager Gordon Strachan watched the draw at Hampden Park and said: "There must have been some sort of intervention there, because the sun came out and England got pulled out of the pot at the same time and the place erupted.

"I imagine that is the way everyone in Scotland felt.

"From the coaches' point of view it is good that there will be these two big fixtures, but I think first and foremost it is good for the fans of both nations."

Wales were drawn in Group D with the Republic of Ireland, plus Austria, Serbia, Moldova and Georgia.

Northern Ireland will have to face world champions Germany in Group C along with Czech Republic, Norway, Azerbaijan and San Marino.

England and Wales were both among the nine countries who were top seeds for the draw, thanks to their July FIFA rankings of ninth and 10th respectively.

England have not failed to qualify for a World Cup since 1994, though they did miss out on the European Championships in 2008.

By contrast Wales have only attended a World Cup finals once in their history, in 1958, while Scotland's last appearance came in 1998, Northern Ireland's in 1982 and the Republic of Ireland in 2002.

Hodgson insisted the games against Scotland would be played in the right spirit.

He added: "It is a very fierce rivalry and that's good. It's not fierce on the field as the games are played in absolutely the right spirit. Both the game at Wembley and the game at Celtic Park were played in a very competitive manner and were extremely intense but there was certainly nothing untoward, there was not a bad foul in either of the two games."

Wales manager Chris Coleman said he would relish the chance to cross swords with Martin O'Neill.

Coleman said: "I know Martin very well and there will be a couple of juicy games against the Republic of Ireland.

"We have had a good run, and this will be a good group with great games. Serbia are on the rise as well and Austria, Moldova and Georgia is never easy."

Northern Ireland will have to face World Cup winners Germany and Irish FA chief executive Patrick Nelson said: "When Germany came out we just thought what a great competition this is going to be. Any group with Germany in it is going to be difficult but it's going to be exciting."

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