English football gets an opportunity to prove just how far it is progressing at all levels after the Under 19s and Under 17s were handed tough assignments.
The senior side reached the quarter finals of the World Cup this summer in China, and next year it is the turn of the young guns to prove that women's football is in a state of rude health.
England have been handed a tough draw for the second qualifying round of the UEFA Under 19 Championship after being grouped with Iceland, Belgium and Poland.
Scotland will play Denmark, Switzerland and Belarus, with Republic of Ireland up against Spain, Netherlands and Serbia. Meanwhile red-hot favourites Germany – who are chasing a third straight championship - will face Hungary, Russia and Romania.
England Head Coach Mo Marley was pleased with the draw despite its testing nature as she admitted there would be no surprise packages. "We played Iceland in La Manga last year and we had to work very hard for a draw," said Marley. "In April 2006 we beat them 7-1 at this level, but their side has come on a long way since that game.
"We played Poland in our opening game of the Championship finals in July this year, and after conceding an early own goal, we came back to 1-1 with a goal from Fern Whelan in added time, so we know that will be another tough test.
"Finally, we played Belgium in the first qualifying phase last year and beat them 5-2 but that day they had a number of players missing with food poisoning, so we'll be expecting a much tighter game this time round."
The second qualifying round mini-tournaments take place between April 24th-29th 2008, with only the group winners progressing to the finals in France next July, plus the runners-up with the best record against the teams finishing first and third in their pool.
Staying on the international scene and the draw for the inaugural UEFA Under 17 Championship second qualifying round has also taken place this week.
England have been lumped in a group with Netherlands, Czech Republic and Belgium after reaping the benefits of being in the top pool of seeds.This meant they avoided European superpowers Germany, as well as France who have a very strong record in women's European youth football.
The Netherlands are through to the second qualifying round having not dropped a point or conceded a goal in their mini-tournament in Poland and will provide a stern test following an impressive group phase.The Netherlands secured a 2-0 win against Azerbaijan in Zawiercie on the opening day, defeated Greece 3-0 and then two Lisanne Grimberg goals meant the Netherlands triumphed 2-0 over Poland in their final qualifier.
The Czech Republic progressed from their group as winners after a draw against Spain and victories over Italy and Belarus, whilst Belgium were group runners-up to Finland, defeating Estonia and the Faroe Islands, but losing to the Finns 3-1.
Scotland and Republic of Ireland are in the same strong group alongside France and Norway. Germany, Sweden, Switzerland and Poland make up Group 3, with Finland, Iceland, Denmark and Russia in Group 4.
The mini-tournaments take place in April 2008, with the four group winners going through to the finals in May.
The championship's eventual winners, runners-up and third-placed side will qualify for the first FIFA Under 17 World Cup, to be held in New Zealand during Autumn 2008.
