Malta is to face England, Lithuania, Slovenia, Scotland and Slovakia, in the World Cup qualifiers.

The draws for the 2018 competition were made today in St Petersburg.

Malta and England have faced each other three times.

The first two matches were in the 1971 European Championship which England won 1-0 (in Malta) and 5-0.

England won a friendly at Ta’Qali in June 2000, 2-1. 

The European Group draw was the following:

GROUP A-  Luxembourg, Belarus, Bulgaria, Sweden, France, Netherlands;

GROUP B - Andorra, Latvia, Faroe Islands, Hungary, Switzerland, Portugal;

GROUP C - San Marino, Azerbaijan, Norway, N.Ireland, Czech Republic, Germany;

GROUP D - Georgia, Moldova, Ireland, Serbia, Austria, Wales;

GROUP E - Kazakhstan, Armenia, Montenegro, Poland, Denmark, Romania;

GROUP F - Malta, Lithuania, Slovenia, Scotland, Slovakia; England;

GROUP G - Liechtenstein, FMR Macedonia, Israel, Albania, Italy, Spain;

GROUP H - Cyprus, Estonia, Greece, Bosnia, Belgium;

GROUP I - Finland, Turkey, Ukraine, Iceland, Croatia;

The nine group winners advance directly to the World Cup finals. The eight runners-up with the best record against the teams first, third, fourth and fifth in their groups proceed to playoffs to decide the remaining four European berths.

The Malta FA delegation at the draws: Malta’s representatives at the draw (from left) Ivan Vella, the national teams manager, national coach Pietro Ghedin and Bjorn Vassallo, the Malta FA general secretary.The Malta FA delegation at the draws: Malta’s representatives at the draw (from left) Ivan Vella, the national teams manager, national coach Pietro Ghedin and Bjorn Vassallo, the Malta FA general secretary.

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