Blatter said: “We say “yes” to Russian Federation”.
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The United States will open World Cup qualifying in November in what appears to be quite an easy group, which includes Trinidad and Tobago.
Qualifying in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has already begun.
England and Scotland will clash in the qualifying competition for the 2018 World Cup after being drawn in the same group.
“But it’s a naturally exciting thing, it gets the whole country going and it sharpens the team up, so I’ll be intrigued to see the group that we’re in”.
Putin added that a series of measures have been taken to ensure the comfort of players and fans, including visa-free travel for those with World Cup tickets. The palace previously hosted world political leaders for meetings of the G8 and G20 nations.
England have not failed to qualify for a World Cup since 1994, though they did miss out on the European Championships in 2008.
Many teams would relish the start Germany has to its title defense from September 2016, and it was thanks to Germany team manager Oliver Bierhoff who drew the European groups.
The planned two-hour draw, co-hosted by supermodel Natalia Vodionova and television presenter Dmitry Shepelev in Russian and English, overran by 10 minutes. It’s the first time Blatter has left Switzerland since seven current and former soccer officials were arrested in Zurich in May.
Blatter said Monday his replacement would be chosen at a special election on February 26.
Blatter – who has announced he is stepping down – could be interviewed for the Swiss case, which is investigating suspected money laundering linked to the 2018 and 2022 bid contests. He denies all wrongdoing.
The other killer drawing was Group A. It has the third place team at 2014 World Cup, the Netherlands, squaring off against France as well as Sweden, Bulgaria, Belarus and Luxembourg.
Regardless, the fact is that the U.S. only has to finish in the top two of its group to advance to the final round of six teams.
The matches of the World cup will be held between June 14 and July 15 2018 at 12 stadiums located across Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sochi, Kazan, Saransk, Kaliningrad, Volgograd, Rostov-on-Don, Nizhny Novgorod, Yekaterinburg and Samara.
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Those results leave Italy in 17th in Fifa’s rankings and Conte admits that the group will be no walkthrough for his side.
