England may be haunted by the ghosts of past failures but the road to Brazil 2014 could have been made more treacherous for them. On the 45th anniversary of the nation's solitary World Cup triumph, England were once more drawn in a qualifying group with Poland and San Marino, opponents on two of the last three occasions they did not reach the finals.

But at least whoever takes over from Fabio Capello next year avoided the nightmare scenario of having to overcome France in order to win their pool and guarantee a place in the land which claims to love football more than any other.

On fire: Rio Ferdinand walks away as a firefighter deals with a flare on the pitch during England's defeat in Ukraine in October 2009

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