George Burley and Scotland begin their preparations for World Cup qualification with a friendly against Northern Ireland. The Scots came ever so close to qualifying for Euro 2008 in a group with France and Italy and will be hoping for more success to propel them to South Africa in less than two years time. Burley will be looking to big name stars such as Darren Fletcher and Craig Gordon to start making an impact on the national team. Northern Ireland manager Nigel Worthington will also see this as a big test for his team and he has included four Scottish based players in the squad for the eagerly awaited clash at Hampden Park.

Giovani Trappattoni, one of the most highly decorated managers in world football, takes his Republic of Ireland team to Norway for a friendly in Oslo as preparation for the World Cup qualifiers which start next month. The Republic of Ireland have been boosted by the return of Liverpool full back Steve Finnan but unfortunately Andy O'Brien remains in retirement. As always the Republic squad looks strong with top class players including Shay Given, Robbie Keane and Damien Duff. The game against Norway will be good preparation for the World Cup qualification clashes with Italy to come. Norway will be no pushovers, they have a number of strong players including John Arne Riise and Morten Gamst Pedersen who the Republic will have to watch out for.

Fabio Capello's England side host the Czech Republic at Wembley looking to get in shape for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers. After not qualifying for the Euros the Three Lions will be looking to bounce back with a new captain. Most importantly for England's Italian manager he will need to get England's attacking game in full flow. Wayne Rooney will be expected to start but all eyes will be on who joins the Manchester United forward in attack. The Czechs will be no strangers to English football fans with players such as Petr Cech and Milan Baros expected to start. Czech Republic will be looking to rebound from their heartbreaking exit from Euro 2008 at the hands of Turkey.