England grouped with 'old enemy' Scotland in 2018 World Cup draw

England will face old enemies Scotland in qualifying for soccer's 2018 World Cup in Russia after they were paired together at a lavish draw ceremony in Saint Petersburg on Satuirday.

Both sides will also face Slovakia, Slovenia, Lithuania and Malta in group F.

World champions Germany were drawn alongside Czech Republic, Northern Ireland, Norway, Azerbaijan and San Marino.

Arguably the toughest group sees 1998 champions France drawn alongside three-time World Cup runners-up the Netherlands and Sweden.

There is also a meeting of two former winners in group G as Spain and Italy were paired along with Albania, Israel, Macedonia and Liechtenstein.

Group D sees another local clash as top seeds Wales will meet the Republic of Ireland as well as Austria, Serbia, Moldova and Georgia.

After the draw, Welsh boss Chris Coleman said: "We're looking forward to it. Some good teams in there. It's never easy going to places like Moldova and Georgia and we know about the quality of Austria, Republic of Ireland and Serbia. But we've really improved in the last three years. We fancy ourselves against anyone."