England manager Glenn Hoddle could be excused for letting out a slight groan after the draw was made on Sunday for the qualifying rounds of the European Championships in 2000.

England have been paired with Poland -- for the fifth time in consecutive European Championship and World Cup draws -- Bulgaria, Sweden and Luxembourg.

Glenn Hoddle said England's was the second hardest group

He said: "At least we were seeded this time, which we weren't for the World Cup.

"But it has panned out to be another hard group, possibly the hardest with the exception of France's."

Scotland fared much better. Manager Craig Brown was delighted to have landed in a group in which the biggest danger will come from Euro 96 finalists the Czech Republic.

Also in the group are Lithuania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Faroe Islands and Estonia.

That will mean a return to the Estonian capital, Tallinn, where Scotland played out 15 seconds of a farcical World Cup qualifier last year after the home side failed to turn up.

Bobby Gould's Wales have been given another tough draw.

Italy, two time World Cup winners, join Wales along with Denmark, Switzerland and Belarus.

Northern Ireland must face Germany in their group but they have a good record against the Euro 96 winners and will not be too worried with trips to Finland, Turkey and Moldova.

Craig Brown...happy with the draw

The Republic of Ireland drew Macedonia, Malta, Croatia and Yugoslavia.

The pairing of the Croatians and the largely Serbian Yugoslavian team in the same group will have produced winces and groans from UN diplomats concerned at the heightened tension the two matches will produce in the Balkans.

The full draw, made in Ghent, Belgium is:

Group One
WALES, Italy, Denmark, Switzerland, Belarus

Group Two
Slovenia, Latvia, Greece, Norway, Georgia, Albania

Group Three
NORTHERN IRELAND, Germany, Turkey, Finland, Moldova

Group Four
France, Russia, Ukraine, Armenia, Iceland, Andorra

Group Five
ENGLAND, Poland, Sweden, Bulgaria, Luxembourg

Group Six
Spain, Israel, Austria, Cyprus, San Marino

Group Seven
Portugal, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Azerbaijan, Liechtenstein

Group Eight
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND, Croatia, Yugoslavia, Macedonia, Malta

Group Nine
SCOTLAND, Czech Republic, Estonia, Lithuania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Faroe Islands

Belgium and the Netherlands, as joint hosts of the tournament, qualified automatically.

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