Holders get England test in China

Holders Germany have been paired with European rivals England in Sunday's draw for the fifth FIFA Women's World Cup in Wuhan, China.

Tough challenges
FIFA rules stipulated that no more than one team from each federation could feature in a group with the exception of UEFA, which is why Germany and England will go head to head in Group 1, along with Japan and Argentina, after the draw at the Guanggu Exhibition Center. Sweden will compete in Group B while Norway begin in Group C. The other European contenders are Denmark who find themselves paired with the hosts in Group D.

Neid content
Germany coach Silvia Neid said: "I am quite pleased. However, it will not be easy. The other teams haven't qualified without good reason, they are among the best in the world. It will be our task to get as much information as possible about our opponents in the weeks to come. Should we manage to qualify for the knockout stages, we will meet a very, very strong team in the quarter-finals." The tournament gets under way on 10 September, with the final scheduled to take place 20 days later in Shanghai.