The draw for the 2010 World Cup finals was made in Cape Town on Friday and it threw up the prospect of some potentially mouth-watering clashes.

Hosts South Africa will kick the tournament off in Johannesburg on 11^th June when they take on Mexico in Group A. They have been drawn alongside first-ever winners Uruguay and the 1998 champions France who are fortunate to be competing at all following their controversial victory, courtesy of Thierry Henry’s handball, over the Republic Of Ireland.

Another former winner, South American giants Argentina, head Group B and Diego Maradona will hope that his side show more consistent form against ex-European Champions Greece, 2002 joint hosts South Korea and African challengers Nigeria than they did in their qualifying campaign.

Fabio Capello’s England are seeded in Group C and will feel relatively happy with a draw that sees them pitted against Algeria, Slovenia and most interestingly the USA. The 1966 World Cup winners are looking to be the host nation for 2018 and a strong showing will enhance their chances of success in that aim.

Twice-winners and perennial contenders Germany will start group D as favourites and Australia, Ghana and Serbia will probably be competing for the second qualifying place. However, the Germans can be slow starters and if they fail to make a solid start, the pressure will be on them to show their title-challenging credentials sooner rather than later.

Group E is possibly one of the most open groups with former European Champions the Netherlands (1988) and Denmark (1992) competing with the other 2002 joint hosts Japan and Cameroon who previously set the benchmark for African progress in the tournament.

Holders Italy have perhaps one of the easier routes into the latter stages. Group F also features New Zealand, Paraguay and Slovakia but the Italians could possibly be the shortest odds of all the seeded teams to win their group.

Every World Cup has a ‘group of death’ and this time it looks like five-times winners Brazil have found themselves right in the middle of it. Group G will see the South Americans star Kaka play against his Portuguese Real Madrid team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo. With Ivory Coast boasting a host of well-known players including Didier Drogba, Emmanuel Eboue and Didier Zokora, they will present a real threat to the ‘big two’ whilst North Korea , who are expected to be the group whipping boys, do have a history of upsetting favourites in the World Cup - Italy will be glad to have avoided them.

The last group, Group H, gives reigning European Champions Spain a great chance to carry their qualifying form further into the competition. They will face Switzerland, Chile and Honduras but will also start as firm favourites to win the group.