England have been drawn in Group B with Paraguay, Sweden and Trinidad & Tobago.
Hosts Germany will be happy with their group stage opposition, but Italy ranked 12 in the FIFA world rankings face the Czech Republic (ranked 2nd), USA (ranked 8th), and Ghana.
The full draw is:
GROUP A Germany, Costa Rica, Poland, Ecuador
GROUP B England, Paraguay, Trinidad & Tobago, Sweden
GROUP C Argentina, Ivory Coast, Serbia & Montenegro, Holland
GROUP D Mexico, Iran, Angola, Portugal
GROUP E Italy, Ghana, USA, Czech Republic
GROUP F Brazil, Croatia, Australia, Japan
GROUP G France, Switzerland, South Korea, Togo
GROUP H Spain, Ukraine, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia
A thoroughly entertaining friendly saw England beat Argentina 3-2 with 2 goals in the last 5 minutes.
Both sides played good attacking football and at times Argentina showed why they are ranked second in the world against a shaky looking England defence.
‘Eriksson in successful substitution shock’
How much Eriksson learnt about his players or formation I’m not sure, but I think the country at least regained some faith in the manager’s ability to change games (for the better).
By bringing Cole on for King, and switching Gerrard into the holding position, England became much more likely to score as Argentina began to sit on their 2-1 lead. And while, Crouch wasn’t able to get directly involved, Owen certainly capitalised, suddenly finding space in the Argentinian defence to score the 2 winning goals.
Robinson and Rooney were the highlights for England, with the midfielders all playing well in patches.
The defence needs work: Ferdinand and Terry never seem ‘together’ for me, and Bridge was obviously off the pace., but on the whole a very encouraging fixture in a game that the FA must be congratulated for arranging. A perfect friendly.