England have been drawn against the Netherlands in the qualifying round for the 2013 UEFA European Championships while holders Germany will face Spain.
By David Brenchley
Hope Powell's team were runners up back in 2009 and will be joined in Group 6 by Slovenia, Serbia and Croatia while Germany and Spain also play Switzerland, Romania, Turkey and Kazakhstan.
There will be 11 teams qualifying for the tournament, alongside hosts Sweden, and qualifying will run between 17 September 2011 and 19 September 2012.
Fixtures, which will be confirmed shortly and the group winners and best runners-up (not counting results against sixth-placed teams) will qualify for the finals.
The six remaining runners-up will contest home-and-away play-off matches on 20/21 and 24/25 October 2012, with the three winners of these ties also qualifying. The 12-team finals will be played in July 2013.
EURO 2013 QUALIFYING ROUND GROUP STAGE
Group 1: Italy, Russia, Poland, Greece, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Group 2: Germany (holders), Spain, Switzerland, Romania, Turkey, Kazakhstan
Group 3: Norway, Iceland, Belgium, Hungary, Northern Ireland, Bulgaria
Group 4: France, Scotland, Republic of Ireland, Wales, Israel
Group 5: Finland, Ukraine, Belarus, Slovakia, Estonia
Group 6: England, Netherlands, Slovenia, Serbia, Croatia
Group 7: Denmark, Czech Republic, Austria, Portugal, Armenia
