England will face Denmark, China and a play-off winner at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
Sarina Wiegman’s side have been drawn into group D which will see the Lionesses play their group matches in Australia.
England’s first match will be against the play-off winner and their host cities for the games will be Brisbane, Sydney and Adelaide.
The play-off winner will be whichever team comes out victorious of Chile vs Haiti/Senegal.
Wiegman said: “It’s an exciting group. We know Denmark very well, China is a very good opponent too. They are in transition a little bit, or they were in transition. At the Olympics they were struggling, they have a new coach and won the Asian Cup. We don’t know the other one yet. Three very different opponents with a different style of play.
“As you could see in the Euros, there are so many good countries now, the game and countries develop so quickly. What we saw is that the games are really tight. That’s what I expect from this tournament too. In the group stage, there are some very tight matches but also some will give a high score because 32 countries come from different levels at different moments of their development. The further the tournament comes the tighter the games will become, that’s exciting too. There are many favourites for this World Cup win. So I wouldn’t predict anything. It’s just the same as the Euros, there were so many good teams and it’s very tough so we’ll see.”
If England are to win their group, after the round of 16 in Brisbane, their base would be Sydney for rest of the knockouts.
Wiegman and the Lionesses are currently second favourites to win the tournament, only behind the United States, and will enter as European champions.
The opening match of the tournament will see New Zealand face Norway and the other co-host Australia will begin their campaign against the Republic of Ireland.
Group E is set to be a fascinating watch as we will be treated to a rematch of the 2019 World Cup final. The Netherlands joined the US in Group E and will also face World Cup debutants Vietnam and another play-off winner. The USA were beaten by England last month at Wembley but are aiming for a third consecutive World Cup win, something that no team has managed.
Thirty-two nations are competing in the tournament and have been split into eight groups of four. The top two from each group will progress to the knockout stages for a chance at lifting the trophy.
If England were to progress to the final, this is how their tournament would look geographically:
Winners of the group — Brisbane, Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane, Sydney, Sydney, Sydney.Runners-up of the group — Brisbane, Sydney, Adelaide, Sydney, Brisbane, Sydney, Sydney.
Group A:
New Zealand
Norway
Philippines
Switzerland
Group B:
Australia
Republic of Ireland
Nigeria
Canada
Group C:
Spain
Costa Rica
Zambia
Japan
Group D:
England
Group B play-off winner
Denmark
China
Group E:
USA
Vietnam
Netherlands
Group A play-off winner
Group F:
France
Jamaica
Brazil
Group C play-off winner
Group G:
Sweden
South Africa
Italy
Argentina
Group H:
Germany
Morocco
Colombia
Korea Republic