England have been drawn in the same group as fierce rivals Scotland in the qualifying rounds for the 2018 World Cup and they will go up against Slovakia, Malta, Lithuania and Slovenia in Group F.
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Despite Wales’ remarkable climb in the rankings and elevation to top seed for this draw, O’Neill would not be unhappy to draw them as the top seed in Ireland’s group.
Barring any shock injury or slump, Wayne Rooney will likely be England’s record goalscorer by the time he faces Scotland again and will be a senior figure in a squad that is filled with emerging talent who will be battling to justify the hype.
“Please, it’s not me being pessimistic, absolutely not, we got a draw out there at the end of it all and I feel we’re capable of giving them a real proper go when we play them here”.
Scotland will share a qualification group with Lithuania for the fifth time, with just one solitary defeat for the Scots in eight meetings.
The stench from a disastrous few years, featuring a high-profile hand-ball, a World Cup meltdown and friction amongst the players, management and media, appears to have lifted.
“I am delighted that we will not play against Italy and France”, he said.
Scotland have not played England competitively since the 2000 European Championship qualifying play-off, where they lost 2-1 on aggregate, while they were also beaten in two recent challenge matches, one at Wembley, the other at Celtic Park.
Scotland and Northern Ireland also moved up in the world after graduating to pot three, raising the prospect of all four home nations being given a realistic chance of reaching the finals.
Wales last qualified for a World Cup in 1958, and Coleman warns lack of big-tournament experience could be a weakness against an Irish team led by Los Angeles Galaxy forward Robbie Keane, who has 140 global appearances.
The draw itself will be made in St Petersburg at at 4pm, and is live on RTE2.
United States will face Trinidad and Tobago in Group C, while Patrick Kluivert’s maiden qualification draw with Curacao could see them take on Honduras and Mexico if they get past El Salvador.
Potential games against Northern Ireland would, most likely, be heated, tense and scrappy affairs, but more favourable to Martin O’Neill’s side than two games against Poland or Sweden.
The nine group winners will qualify directly for the 2018 Federation Internationale de Football Association World Cup.
“Moldova, Ireland and Wales are opponents we know”.
Beyond that it was perhaps Groups E and I that offered the most intrigue, with arguably five countries in those groups that will entertain viable ambitions of making at least the play-offs for a tournament that, it should not be forgotten, remains the best part of three years away.
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In their Euro 2016 group it hasn’t been easy going so far.
