England could face Belarus or Ukraine

England will probably face either Belarus or Ukraine if they need a play-off to reach next year's World Cup finals in Japan and Korea.

That was the news today as Sven-Goran Eriksson's men prepared to play Germany here tomorrow.

The winners of the nine European qualifying groups go through to the finals. The runners-up will be involved in two-legged play-offs, the draw for which took place this morning in Zurich.

So England know if they go into the play-offs they will meet the runners-up of Group Five, likely to be Ukraine or Belarus. Belarus trail leaders Poland by five points, with Ukraine a further two points behind. Belarus are at home to Ukraine tomorrow.

It's encouraging for England to have avoided the big guns and they won't have to face tricky games against the Scots or diplomatically sensitive opponents such as Turkey or the Republic of Ireland. The play-offs are in November and, if involved, England will be away first.

However, Eriksson dismissed suggestions that his team may have got off lightly. "If someone thinks it is easy to play in Kiev, they're wrong,î he said. "It's very difficult. I don't remember when I've had an easy international game anywhere with Lazio, England or anyone else.î

Belarus are ranked 86th in the world and have never played England. Ukraine are ranked 47th and their team could include Tottenham striker Sergei Rebrov.

England beat Ukraine 2-0 at Wembley in a friendly in May last year.

If Scotland are involved in a play-off, it will be against Denmark, the Czech Republic or Bulgaria. The Republic of Ireland would play the thirdplaced nation from the Asian qualifying group.

Before England need worry about the play-offs, however, they have to concentrate on Germany.

There was good news today about David Beckham's fitness. Eriksson said: "I think he's ready. He did more or less everything today and he did it well. I think he will play. We'll have to wait and see if there has been any reaction tomorrow, but it looks fine."

Beckham took part in training and played in a 10-a-side match, which was the first time he had kicked a ball since Sunday.