COSTA DO SAUIPE, Brazil — Host nation Brazil will kick off next year's soccer World Cup against Croatia in Sao Paulo on June 12 and the favorite will be happy with a Group A also containing Mexico and Cameroon as it seeks their sixth title. The final is in Rio de Janeiro on July 13. Friday's complicated draw procedure went off smoothly as holder Spain and 2010 runner-up Netherlands were put together in the group stages, but have a tough task with Chile and Australia alongside them in Group B. England, Italy and Uruguay, all former winners, were put together, along with Costa Rica, in Group D, with England facing Italy in the jungle city of Manaus in their first game. Germany will come face to face with their former striker and coach Juergen Klinsmann, now in charge of the United States, with Portugal and Ghana completing the Group G lineup. France, which qualified via the playoffs, will be pleased with a Group E placing alongside Ecuador, Switzerland and Honduras. Bosnia, the only one of the 32 teams taking part in their first World Cup Finals, faces Argentina, Iran and Nigeria. After a poignant homage to the late Nelson Mandela, the draw began to the exhilarating sound of samba at the northeastern beach resort of Costa do Sauipe. The draw build-up had been dominated by news of stadium delays and anti-World Cup campaigners threatening public protest. Yet Mandela's death changed the tone as participants remembered how he saw in sport a means of fostering social progress. Meanwhile, tickets for the final and the opening match will not be available to fans when a new sales phase opens after Friday's draw in Brazil. FIFA had been saying it would sell tickets to all 64 matches beginning Sunday, but the high-demand matches in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro will be blocked off again for now. — Agencies
