IN the end, it wasn't so much a draw as an early Christmas present. England will play Paraguay, Trinidad & Tobago and Sweden in the group stage of next summer's World Cup and, if they cannot qualify from that pool, they should not be in the tournament in the first place.

Germany and Argentina could lie in wait at the second round and quarter-final stages but, for now, that can wait.

After the trauma of being drawn into the 'Group of Death' in the 2002 finals, England will be kicking themselves if they have not reached the knockout stage of next summer's tournament within six days of the competition kicking off.

Sven Goran Eriksson had spoken of the potential for danger in the build-up to last night's draw but, by the end of the evening, the England coach was wearing a smile as big as any on display in Leipzig's International Conference Centre.

As the tournament approaches, he will revert to type and trot out the old adage of there being no easy games in international football. Last night, though, his emotions were a mixture of joy and relief.

"On paper, we are favourites to win the group," said the England boss. "But you never know in a World Cup.

"Trinidad & Tobago, who have a number of players based in England, will want to beat us - but who doesn't? I'm sure they will look forward to the match very, very much.

"They are difficult games of course, but I am happy with the group. It could have been worse, much worse. It was a very tough group last time."

Germany will kick off the World Cup against Costa Rica on Friday, June 9, with England starting their Group B campaign against Paraguay 24 hours later in Frankfurt's 45,000-capacity Waldstadion.

The Paraguayans, who lost to eventual finalists Germany at the second round stage of the last World Cup, finished fourth in the South American qualifying section.

They boast the likes of Bayern Munich striker Roque Santa Cruz and pocket-sized forward Pipino, but should offer little threat to an England side who cruised to a comprehensive 4-0 win when the two sides last met in a friendly in March 2002.

Provided things go to plan in that game, England can all but guarantee their second-round spot with a win over Trinidad & Tobago at Nuremberg's 37,000-capacity Frankenstadion on Thursday, June 15.

The Caribbean nation will be making their World Cup debut next summer after coming through a tense play-off with Bahrain last month.

Better known for their love of cricket - Brian Lara is Trinidad's most famous son - the 'Soca Warriors' boast former Manchester United striker Dwight Yorke amongst their ranks.

But the likes of Wrexham defender Dennis Lawrence and Port Vale midfielder Chris Burchall provide a much more realistic yardstick of their depth of talent.

Almost inevitably, England's group is completed by one of their bitterest rivals, Sweden.

Thomas Brolin scored the winner as the Swedes wrecked England's European Championship hopes in 1992, while Niclas Alexandersson cancelled out Sol Campbell's opener when the two sides met at the group stage of the last World Cup finals.

England have failed to beat Sweden in their last 11 attempts but, crucially, both sides should already have qualified when they meet at Cologne's 40,500-capacity Mungersdorfer Stadion on Tuesday, June 20.

"I thought about Sven as soon as Sweden's name came out of the hat," said Eriksson's number two, current Middlesbrough manager, Steve McClaren.

"I am sure he will have had a wry smile, but at least we know all about them.

"They are a very good side and they will offer a tough test. They have very good players - people like (Zlatan) Ibrahimovic up front with (Henrik) Larsson, a talented midfield and a strong back four.

"They play a British style of game and that always proves difficult to play against, but it's good that we will be playing them last.

"As we discovered in Japan and Portugal last year, the first game is vital because there is a lot of mental pressure.

"If we can get off to a good start - and we have a good chance of doing that in the first two games - we will know what we have to do when it comes to playing against Sweden."

The bookmakers clearly share McClaren's optimism, as England's World Cup odds were immediately trimmed from 7-1 to 6-1 in the aftermath of the draw.

The top two sides from the group will qualify for the knock-out stage, but England's pre-determined route to the final could well offer a significant reward for coming out on top.

The runners-up in Group B will face the winners of Group A - likely to be hosts Germany - while the winners of England's group will face Group A's second-placed side, probably either Poland or Ecuador.

"I think Germany will win their group," said Eriksson.

"It is better to play Poland than Germany in a knockout match but we will try to win the group and that is it."

By winning their group, England will hope to avoid a second-round return to Munich, the scene of one of Eriksson's finest hours as England manager.

Michael Owen scored a hat-trick as England trounced Germany 5-1 on their most recent visit to the city.

The rest of the World Cup draw set up a host of tantalising ties, with Group C earning the tag of the ubiquitous 'Group of Death'.

Argentina will face the highly-fancied Holland in their final group game, following tricky matches against a Didier Drogba-inspired Ivory Coast and the hard-working Serbia and Montenegro.

Italy face a similarly difficult route to round two, after being grouped with hotly-tipped Africans Ghana, Euro 2004 semi-finalists Czech Republic and the improving United States.

Reigning champions Brazil will be expected to win Group F, despite facing Croatia, Australia and Japan.

That draw was especially poignant for Middlesbrough's Australian striker Mark Viduka, as he boasts a Croatian heritage.

France and Spain should have few problems progressing from Groups G and H, although neither boasts an unblemished record when it comes to making the most of a helpful draw.

France could struggle against South Korea, while Spain will not relish the prospect of coming up against Andriy Shevchenko's Ukraine.

The only other group - Group D - sees Mexico, Iran, Angola and Portugal come together in arguably the tournament's weakest first-round pool.