England have been drawn against Poland, Hungary, Albania, Andorra and San Marino in World Cup qualifying; Fixtures begin in March with a place at Qatar 2022 at stake
Wednesday 9 December 2020 07:53, UK
Gareth Southgate will take nothing for granted but nor will he be unduly concerned by England's World Cup qualifying draw.
His England side have been pitted against Poland, Hungary, Albania, Andorra and San Marino in Group I, with the first matches to be played in March.
Poland's main man will test England's defence and there's one to watch among the Hungarians too, but a place at Qatar 2022 looks there for the taking.
England last faced Poland in October 2013, securing a 2-0 win at Wembley which sealed their passage to the 2014 World Cup. Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard were the scorers that night. Roy Hodgson preferred Chris Smalling to Phil Jones at right-back and included Rickie Lambert among the substitutes.
They were different times but the mission now is the same.
England have in fact faced the Poles in six different World Cup qualifying campaigns dating back to the 1970s and have only lost to them once in 19 meetings in all competitions. Their threat is a familiar one to England supporters, but they may be stronger this time around.
Robert Lewandowski played the last time the two sides met but it is only since then that his scoring record has truly exploded. The 32-year-old, scorer of six goals in Poland's successful Euro 2020 qualifying campaign, hit a career-best total of 55 for Bayern Munich last season and is already up to 15 in the current campaign.
The Chelsea players in Southgate's squad had first-hand experience of how dangerous he can be last season, when he scored three times against them across two legs in the Champions League, but in truth his quality will be lost on nobody. Harry Maguire and Co will have to be ready.
The better news, of course, is that there are few other individuals in the Poland squad to cause too many headaches. Jerzy Brzeczek's side are not easy opponents, but their last two meetings with top European sides - against Italy and the Netherlands in the Nations League last month - both ended in defeat. England should overcome them too.
Hungary, once titans of world football who famously beat England 6-3 in a fixture dubbed "match of the century" in 1953, are no longer quite so feared. In fact, they have only qualified for one major tournament - Euro 2016 - in the last 36 years.
They have not reached a World Cup since 1986 and while they probably have the best chance of rivalling England and Poland for a qualifying spot in Group I, they are still an outside bet.
Their best hope of springing a surprise is their creative midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai. The 20-year-old, who plays for Austrian side Red Bull Salzburg, is a man in demand, with Arsenal and Tottenham said to be among the sides contemplating activating his reported €25m release clause in January.
He is also said to have attracted interest from Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid and AC Milan, while Salzburg's sister side, RB Leipzig have also been linked with a move for him.
Szoboszlai, who has three goals in 12 games for his country, will hope to use Hungary's World Cup qualifying games to further enhance an already burgeoning reputation. His skill and flair make him one to watch for Southgate's side as they attempt to navigate Group I as easily as many will expect them to.
The draw may look favourable to England but Southgate expects difficult games against players who will be doubly motivated to impress against them.
"The nature of the draw is always seeds from different pots, so everybody will have that mix of different teams," he said after the draw.
"Poland are a very good side, Hungary have just got promoted into Nations League A, so those two teams in particular are going to be games that we know will be tough.
"The rest are always games, whenever I played and managed England, that are complicated to navigate.
"Inevitably it will be about what we do, but some there are some exciting games. Poland at Wembley, Poland in Poland, there is a great history to that fixture and there was a spell when we seemed to draw them every time. And there's good historic fixtures with the Hungarians as well.
"Whenever England play an opponent, it's an opportunity for them to not only play well to try and beat England but put themselves on the maps of Premier League clubs as well. There is always a lot of incentives for our opposition."
Group A: Portugal, Serbia, Republic of Ireland, Luxembourg, Azerbaijan
Group B: Spain, Sweden, Greece, Georgia, Kosovo
Group C: Italy, Switzerland, Northern Ireland, Bulgaria, Lithuania
Group D: France, Ukraine, Finland, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Kazakhstan
Group E: Belgium, Wales, Czech Republic, Belarus, Estonia
Group F: Denmark, Austria, Scotland, Israel, Faroe Islands, Moldova
Group G: Netherlands, Turkey, Norway, Montenegro, Latvia, Gibraltar
Group H: Croatia, Slovakia, Russia, Slovenia, Cyprus, Malta
Group I: England, Poland, Hungary, Albania, Andorra, San Marino
Group J: Germany, Romania, Iceland, North Macedonia, Armenia, Liechtenstein
The qualifiers will be played between March and November 2021, with play-offs scheduled for March 2022.
Matchday 1: March 24-25 2021
Matchday 2: March 27-28 2021
Matchday 3: March 30-31 2021
Matchday 4: September 1-2 2021
Matchday 5: September 4-5 2021
Matchday 6: September 7-8 2021
Matchday 7: October 8-9 2021
Matchday 8: October 11-12 2021
Matchday 9: November 11-13 2021
Matchday 10: November 14-16 2021
Play-offs: March 24, 25, 28, 29 2022
