England and Wales in same World Cup qualifying group
Tuesday 25 April 2017 18:02, UK
England's women's team have been drawn in the same group as Wales for their World Cup qualifying campaign ahead of the 2019 finals.
Mark Sampson's side are the top seeds in Group One which also features Russia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kazakhstan.
The group stage runs between September 11, 2017 and September 4, 2018.
England, who beat Wales home and away during qualifying for the 2015 finals, went on to finish third in the tournament after losing to Japan at the semi-final stage.
"It's a challenging draw but that's the way women's football is going at the moment," Sampson told Sky Sports News HQ.
"Maybe five years ago you could guarantee your passage in the qualifying groups but looking at all the groups, including ours, there are so many different challenges teams will come across.
"We've got a local derby, some long journeys and we're playing against teams that are going to be really competitive. It's a tough group for us but one that I expect us to qualify from."
In other qualifying groups for 2019, Scotland have been drawn alongside Switzerland, Poland, Belarus and Albania in Group Two, while Group Three includes both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, who will be joined by Holland, Norway and Slovakia.
The finals in two years' time will be staged in France from June 1-30.
But before qualifying can begin, England will contest this summer's European Championship Finals in the Netherlands where their opponents will be Scotland, Spain and Portugal. The final is on August 6.
