For the full World Cup draw, see the post below.
ENGLAND will be confident of a good World Cup finals after being drawn with United States, Algeria and Slovenia in Group C.
Fabio Capello's Three Lions were rewarded for an impressive qualifying campaign by being seeded, meaning they avoided the likes of Brazil and Spain.
Importantly, Capello's men also steered clear of Portugal, France and Ivory Coast from the other pots.
Instead, England will begin with a match against the United States who famously beat them 1-0 in the 1950 World Cup finals.
But England have won nine of the ten matches since then, including a 2-0 win last May with goals from John Terry and Steven Gerrard at Wembley.
Capello's men have also beaten Slovenia 2-1 this season in a friendly at Wembley.
Frank Lampard scored a penalty and Jermain Defoe netted a second before Zlatan Ljubijankic pulled a goal back late on.
That victory is the only match between the two sides but that is still one more game than England-Algeria, a fixture which has yet to be played.
Looking at the draw in a wider context, England will also be glad to be in the opposite side of the draw to favourites Spain and Brazil.
The Brazilians have ended up in the toughest group on paper, being drawn with Portugal and Ivory Coast as well as minnows North Korea in Group G.
The draw has been particularly harsh on Ivory Coast, regarded by many as the strongest African nation, especially as they were also in the Group of Death in 2006 with Argentina and Netherlands.
Euro 2008 champions Spain should find life easier in Group H against Honduras, Switzerland and Chile, though the Chileans qualified well in the South America group.
As the lowest ranked nation, hosts South Africa were always going to face a tough draw though Group A could have been worse for them.
Uruguay and France are only at the finals after controversial playoff wins but it would be expected that one of them would still join the skillful Mexicans in the second round.
Holders Italy will be pleased to have been put in Group F.
The Italians will face New Zealand, making their first appearance since 1982, debutants Slovakia and Paraguay, who have never been past the second round in seven appearances.
Group D features a tough test for Germany who must play Australia, Serbia and Ghana. If England progress, they would play a second round match against a Group D team.
Meanwhile Netherlands, Denmark, Japan and Cameroon in Group E appears to be the most evenly-matched foursome.
Finally, a case of deja vu places Argentina, Nigeria and Greece in Group B, 16 years on from the draw for USA 1994.
World Cup 2002 semi finalists South Korea are the remaining team in Group B.
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