Sunday 7 December 2014 17:36, UK
England will face France, Mexico and Colombia in Group F at the Women's World Cup in Canada next summer.
Mark Sampson's team will be based in Moncton for their first two games next summer, facing old rivals France on June 9 and then Mexico four days later.
Their final game on June 17 will be against Colombia at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal, meaning they avoid having to make the long trip to western Canada before the knockout stages, should they go that far in the tournament.
The top two teams in each group, plus the four best third-placed teams, progress to the last-16.
England won all 10 of their qualifying matches, as did France who are ranked No 4 in the world, but they came unstuck in front of a 45,000 strong record crowd at Wembley last month when going down 3-0 to Germany. They are also due to meet France in a friendly in April.
The winner of Group F plays their first knockout match in Montreal with the runner-up going to nearby Ottawa, but the 'prize' for finishing third would be a long cross-country trip to Edmonton or Vancouver to play against one of the other group winners.
England have reached the quarter-finals in each of their three previous World Cup appearances, and have ambitions of improving on those showings backed by a significant investment from the Football Association.
Sampson told Sky Sports News HQ: “It’s really exciting to look at the make-up of the groups. There are lots of difficult games and it’s very difficult to predict which teams will go through.
“From our point of view, obviously big challenges lie ahead of us and they are three different styles of opponents.
“We have got a long history against the French and unfortunately for us it is not a very positive one and it’s about time that changed.
“It’s going to be a massive challenge for us, they are certainly a top-tier nation - great players and an excellent coach - but you have got to be ready for that challenge and try and change the history we have got against them.
“Colombia and Mexico are teams that have qualified well against good teams - Mexico gave USA a right good game and Colombia picked up a 0-0 draw against a very talented and strongly-fancied Brazilian team.
“So they are three different challenges and we will have to do our homework and make sure we are ready for all of those challenges.”
The toughest section would seem to be Group D, where two-time champions the United States face European powerhouse Sweden and top-10 ranked Australia.
Adding intrigue to the match-up between the United States and Sweden, current Sweden manager Pia Sundhage guided the Americans to back-to-back Olympic titles before taking the helm in her native country in September of 2012.
Draw in full:
Group A (Edmonton): Canada, New Zealand, China, Netherlands
Group B (Ottawa): Germany, Ivory Coast, Thailand, Norway
Group C (Vancouver): Japan, Cameroon, Ecuador, Switzerland
Group D (Winnipeg): USA, Nigeria, Australia, Sweden
Group E (Montreal): Brazil, Costa Rica, South Korea, Spain
Group F (Moncton): France, Mexico, Colombia, England
