England, Croatia in same group, US may play Cuba

GETTING READY: General view of the the preliminary draw for the 2010 Football World Cup.

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South and North Korea will meet in Asian qualifying for the tournament, and the United States could face Cuba in the CONCACAF semi-finals.

England were drawn with Croatia, who had stopped them from qualifying for the European Championship earlier in the week.

The qualifying draw for the 2010 World Cup on Sunday began the countdown to the event in South Africa, the first World Cup to be held in Africa.

The highlights of the Asian leg of the draw was the meeting of North and South Korea and Australia's first group opponents since moving from Oceania.

The two Koreas fought the 1950-53 Korean War that ended in a truce, not a peace treaty, which means that the sides are still technically at war.

Their relations have warmed significantly since the first-ever summit in 2000, although the reconciliation process has often been overshadowed by the standoff over the North's nuclear weapons programmes.

Australia, who lost to Italy on a disputed penalty in the second round of last year's World Cup, switched from Oceania to get a better chance of qualifying. The socceroos will face China, Iraq and Qatar.

The other groups are: Japan, Bahrain, Oman and Thailand; Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan, Lebanon, Singapore; and Iran, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Syria.

The Americans have a first-round bye before they play the winner of an opening-round series between Barbados and Dominica. The US team will be heavily favoured to make the semi-finals, where the Cubans could be waiting. Cuba will play the winner of the Aruba-Antigua and Barbuda opening series.

Cuba and the United States have not met in World Cup qualifying since 1949 in Mexico, when the Americans won one and drew another to advance to the tournament in Brazil.

Mexico head CONCACAF Group Two and will play the winner of Belize vs St Kitts and Nevis in the second round.

South American qualifying has already started, with the teams having played four rounds of matches.

When Croatia were drawn into England's Group 6 in Europe, there were applause in the auditorium. And gasps.