England agree World Cup qualifiers

Published 12:01 23/11/11 By Martin Lipton

Fabio Capello's successor will follow in the footsteps of Glenn Hoddle as he begins England's journey towards the 2014 World Cup.

And the Three Lions' next manager also has the way clear to test his players against the best South America has to offer, after the World Cup qualifying fixture list left space for a proposed summer 2013 tour to Brazil.

What were expected to be tricky negotiations with the rest of England’s Group H rivals in Warsaw were instead concluded inside two and a half hours, with the FA delegation delighted to have achieved their aims.

Just like Hoddle, who gave debuts to David Beckham and Andy Hinchcliffe in a 3-0 win in Kishinev in September 1996, England will start their path to the finals in Brazil with a game away to Moldova on Friday, September 7.

The new regime - Spurs' Harry Redknapp remains the strong favourite to be the choice of FA chairman David Bernstein and the rest of the Club England board who promise no decision will be made until after Euro 2012 - then sees a Wembley clash against Ukraine, potentially the toughest opponents, four days later.

October brings a Wembley outing against group minnows San Marino before the first of three successive away fixtures, in Poland, with Warsaw the likely venue.

With England utilising all the in-season double-headers next term, March will see away games against San Marino and Montenegro.

When Graham Taylor’s England played San Marino - UEFA’s smallest member - back in 1993, a game in which the Three Lions infamously trailed after seven seconds before winning 7-1 but going out of the World Cup, it was staged in the nearby Italian city of Bologna.

But the San Marino FA are hoping to play a genuine “home” game in the ambitiously-named Stadio Olimpico, which has a capacity of just 7,000, in Serravalle.

That would restrict the number of England fans able to get a ticket to a relative handful of the thousands who would normally make the trip, but the final decision is down to the home side.

The successful outcome of the negotiations mean the final four games - three of them at Wembley, including the last two against Montenegro and Poland in October 2013 - will be played with the players fresh after a rare free summer.

FA officials, including Club England head Adrian Bevington and Sir Trevor Brooking, opted not to be openly celebratory at the conclusion to a meeting that could have ended with lots being drawn to determine the order in which the games are played.

Bevington said: “We are very pleased to have reached an agreement so quickly. It was important for us to avoid dates in June.

"We have managed to agree fixtures similar to those we set out to achieve. There was good co-operation in the room and Poland organised the event extremely well.”

England had used statistical analysis to determine Ukraine’s best results tend to be in October and were pleased to instead schedule matches against the Euro 2012 co-hosts in September.

In addition, the games against the Poles will be the second part of double-headers, with the FA team aware that Poland’s results in those matches are markedly worse than in the first part of two-game spells in recent seasons.

While 2013 represents the FA’s 150th anniversary which will see a series of prestige friendlies being played to mark the occasion, provisional plans for England to undertake their first summer tour since Sven Goran Eriksson’s side went to the USA in 2005 will now move forward.

FA chiefs are keen for England to get an early taste of the conditions they will come across in South America the following summer if England qualify.

They will now step up efforts to secure dates with Brazil and probably Uruguay in the lead-up to the Confederations Cup, which is being staged by the World Cup hosts from June 15, 2013.

England would qualify directly for that tournament if they win Euro 2012, but the FA are determined to ensure the foundations for a proper assault on their biggest test are put in place as early as possible.

Doing so would also allow them to scout potential hotel bases for the World Cup a year later.

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ENGLAND'S WORLD CUP 2014 QUALIFIERS

2012

September 7: Moldova (away)

September 11: Ukraine (home)

October 12: San Marino (home)

Oct 16: Poland (away)

2013

March 22: San Marino (away)

March 26: Montenegro (away)

September 6: Moldova (home)