Malta to face Italy in World Cup qualifiers

Malta was drawn in Group B to play against Armenia, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark and Italy in the qualification groups for the 2014 World Cup.

The draw was made in Brazil, which will host the finals.

Europe has 53 teams competing in the qualifiers comprising eight groups of six and one group of five.

The group winners will qualify along with the eight best runners-up going into four two-legged play-offs with the winners advancing.

MFA CEO Bjorn Vassallo said that he was delighted that after a very long time, Malta would be facing a top team, both from a technical aspect as well as in terms of popularity.

Malta and Italy last faced each other in Malta in the mid-1990s when Malta lost 2-1.

The European draws were the following:

Group A: Croatia, Serbia, Belgium, Scotland, Macedonia, Wales

Group B: Italy, Denmark, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Armenia, Malta

Group C: Germany, Sweden, Ireland, Austria, Faroe Islands, Kazakhstan

Group D: Netherlands, Turkey, Hungary, Romania, Estonia, Andorra

Group E: Norway, Slovenia, Switzerland, Albania, Cyprus, Iceland

Group F: Portugal, Russia, Israel, Northern Ireland, Azerbaijan, Luxembourg

Group G: Greece, Slovakia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Lithuania, Latvia, Leichtenstein

Group H: England, Montenegro, Ukraine, Poland, Moldova, San Marino

Group I: Spain, France, Belarus, Georgia, Finland