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When is the Women's World Cup draw? England and Scotland to learn group opponents

England and Scotland will learn their opponents in their pursuit of the Women's World Cup trophy this weekend
Image: England and Scotland will learn their opponents in their pursuit of the Women's World Cup this weekend

England and Scotland will discover their Women's World Cup group opponents this week. Read everything you need to know right here.

The two home nations made it to France after topping their respective qualifying groups, and will find out their fate this weekend.

But could they win it? Who could they face? When are the finals? We've got all the answers...

When is the draw?

The draw will be held in Paris' famous La Seine Musicale on December 8 at 5pm. There will be a mix of football stars past and present from both the men's and women's game involved in the draw.

Current France men's manager Didier Deschamps, who led the country to the World Cup in July, Brazilian midfielder Kaka, former Manchester United striker Luis Saha and Sky Sports pundit and former England women's player Alex Scott will be among those conducting proceedings.

Who could England and Scotland get?

Also See:

England are in pot one along with France, USA, Canada, Germany and Australia. Scotland are in pot three.

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England Women boss Phil Neville is hoping for success at the 2019 World Cup and the European Championships in England two years later

They will be drawn with one team from each of the other three pots, but only a maximum of one from each confederation (including UEFA, as two teams from Europe can be drawn in the same group).

Here are the teams in the other pots:

Pot 2: Japan, Brazil, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Spain.
Pot 3: South Korea, China, Italy, Scotland, New Zealand, Thailand.
Pot 4: Argentina, Nigeria, Chile, Jamaica, Cameroon, South Africa.

When is the tournament?

Next summer's tournament will be held across nine venues in France from June 7 - July 7. Host venues will include the Parc des Princes in Paris, Lyon's Parc Olympique Lyonnais and Nice's Allianz Arena.

What is the tournament layout?

There will be 24 teams in next summer's tournament, comprising six groups of four. The top two teams in each group will go through to the quarter-finals, plus the four best-placed teams who have finished third in their groups.

What happened in the last World Cup?

England reached the semi-finals in 2015 but were beaten by Japan before edging out Germany in extra time to seal third place - their best ever performance at a finals.

For Scotland, this is their first World Cup, having missed out in the play-offs in qualifying for 2015.

Can a home nation win it?

They certainly have a chance. Ranked as dark horses by most bookmakers, England dropped only two points in qualifying and recently embarked on a five-match winning streak, including a 1-0 win over Brazil.

But there will be other teams ahead of the Lionesses - including holders USA - in the favourites' pecking order next June. Germany, the Netherlands, Japan and hosts France are all expected to be in the mix too.

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Scotland Women's coach Shelley Kerr said Scotland were 'immense' as they pushed world champions USA hard in a 1-0 defeat in Paisley

Scotland are certainly seen as outsiders, but the Scottish government has announced the squad will turn full-time due to a funding boost in time for next summer's tournament.

Last month, they were narrowly beaten 1-0 by world champions USA - but just last year they were thumped 6-0 by England in the Euro 2017 group stages.

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