Five-time champions Brazil were drawn into the toughest group of the World Cup yesterday, and co-favorite Spain were given an easy ride to the second round.
Brazil have to face two of the teams from the top 16 in FIFA's rankings— Portugal and Ivory Coast. Also in the group is North Korea, an unknown quantity.
European champions Spain, who have never won the World Cup, should easily make it through to the knockout phase, facing lower ranked Switzerland, Honduras and Chile and avoiding the tough opponents in the 32-team draw.
After qualifying via the playoffs thanks in part to Thierry Henry's handball against Ireland, France faces host South Africa with Mexico and Uruguay in Group A and has an easy task to get to the second round.
South Africa will face Mexico in the opening game on June 11 at Soccer City, one of six new or rebuilt stadiums at the tournament. Soccer City will also host the final on July 11.
England were drawn to face the United States, Algeria and Slovenia, who won a playoff to reach the competition, in Group C. England midfielder David Beckham, who took part in yesterday's draw, is set to face many of the Americans he regularly plays alongside and against in Major League Soccer in Rustenburg on June 12.
England and the United States have met only once before in the World Cup, with the Americans stunning their star-studded opponents 1-0 in a group game at the 1950 tournament.
Capello said his team would also have to beware of Algeria, who made it to the World Cup for only the third time.
Germany, who have won the title three times, face a tough group against Australia, Serbia and Ghana, but have not lost a World Cup group game since a 2-0 defeat to Denmark in 1986.
Defending champions Italy, who are chasing their fifth World Cup title, should be confident of reaching the next stage after drawing New Zealand, Paraguay and Slovakia.
"All the seeded teams can win their groups," said Italy coach Marcello Lippi, who returned to lead the side after guiding it to a fourth World Cup title in Germany in 2006.
But he feared facing European champion Spain in the last eight.
The Netherlands, who won all their qualifying games, faces Japan, Cameroon and Denmark. The Dutch have reached the final twice and should prove strong enough to make it through to the second round.
Argentina, who only just made it after winning its final two qualifying games under coach Diego Maradona, must play Nigeria, South Korea and Greece, the Euro 2004 champion.
That is one of the tough groups and the pressure will be on Maradona, whose team struggled throughout the qualifying rounds, to get the best out of talented players such as Lionel Messi, Carlos Tevez and Sergio Aguero.