The two oldest national teams in the world. A rivalry stretching back to 1872. Wembley Stadium packed on a Friday night. In what will be one of next year’s most anticipated football events, the auld enemy, England and Scotland, will play each other on 11 November 2016 in a World Cup qualifier.
Citing the excitement in the stands for the friendly meetings at Wembley in 2013 and Celtic Park in 2014, which England won 3-2 and 3-1 respectively, Roy Hodgson said their qualifying matches for Russia 2018 would “fire the imagination”.
“The atmosphere really is everything it’s cracked up to be and it sort of lives up to its type, if you like, of one of the fiercest national team derbies,” the England manager said after the World Cup draw on Saturday at Konstantin Palace in St Petersburg.
After England host Scotland, the reverse fixture will be on 10 June 2017. Scotland will be looking for revenge in the first competitive meetings between the sides since a two-leg Euro 2000 play-off in 1999, that England won 2-1 on aggregate.
Another highly anticipated match among the World Cup qualifiers will come when Italy host Spain on 6 October 2016.
Having avoided games against France and Italy, Hodgson said he was pleased England had been drawn in Group F along with Slovakia, Slovenia, Lithuania and Malta, but warned his side should not be considered clear favourites.
“We knew that we were going to get teams that were more than capable, so we can’t be too surprised Slovakia and Scotland came out,” he said. “I think we’ve got to be happy for our fans.
“The journeys are very useful ones or easy ones for them compared to what they could have been, and also fixtures like Scotland really do fire the imagination of the fans.”
Gordon Strachan said he was “not scared” of playing England or any of the other teams in Group F, adding that the Friday night date with England would be welcomed by supporters.
“I think there were cheers from both Scotland and England when they came out the hat,” the Scotland manager told the Scottish FA website. “Working as a group is important in these games and that’s good because that’s the only way we win. We do not have world-class individuals; we have a great bunch of players. Everything we have to do is as a unit.”
Hodgson predicted they would not have any trouble filling the 90,000 seats at Wembley if England are playing well. “If we can continue the development of some of these young players and they can sort of kick on from where they are today, one hopes that it won’t just be the opponents that people are coming to see, they’ll be coming to see these England players,” he said.
The road to Russia for England will start with an away match against Slovakia on 4 September 2016 and wrap up with an away match against Lithuania on 8 October 2017. Although Hodgson’s contract lasts only until after the Euro 2016 finals next June and July, he has said he would like to lead the team into the World Cup qualifiers.
Scotland will begin away against Malta on 4 September 2016 and finish away against Slovenia on 8 October 2017.
Wales and the Republic of Ireland are in the same group and will play in Dublin on 24 March 2016 and in Cardiff on 9 October 2017. They were drawn in Group D with Austria, Serbia, Moldova and Georgia.
The Wales manager, Chris Coleman, said: “In any group there’s hard games. I think obviously the Republic of Ireland game is going to be very interesting. It’s a tough group for all of us but we’re playing very well, we’ve got a good team and we’re getting better all the time.”.
The Republic of Ireland manager, Martin O’Neill, said: “We’ll take the draw now, we’re happy enough to be in it, and Austria are doing well themselves, and Serbia. I think teams will take points off each other in this group.”
Northern Ireland were less lucky and will have to face Germany, the world champions, on 11 October 2016 and 5 October 2017. They were drawn in Group C along with the Czech Republic, Norway, Azerbaijan and San Marino. The Irish Football Association general secretary, Patrick Nelson, said they were looking forward to challenging the best team in the world.
“We’re still very hopeful of going to France next year [for the European Championship]. So if we can do that then we start this qualification for Russia 2018 in a good frame, who knows?”
