Carlos Alberto Parreira believes his South Africa side have been handed just about the toughest draw possible for next year's World Cup.

Bafana Bafana were pooled in Group A alongside former champions France and Uruguay as well as Mexico - their opponents for the tournament opener at Soccer City on June 11 - at tonight's final draw in Cape Town.

No host nation has ever failed to progress beyond the first round, but Parreira's team now face a momentous task to try and maintain that record.

However, the Brazilian holds no fears, saying: "It's the most well balanced World Cup grouping for the past five or six competitions. Amongst these groups, I would say that ours is one of the most balanced and most difficult.

"It's the only one that has two former champions, France and Uruguay, plus Mexico, who are always qualifying and have lots of World Cup experience.

"But we do not have to regret anything, this is what we have to face and it presents us with a challenge. We have to prepare ourselves in a very good way."

South Africa met France during the 1998 World Cup, with Les Bleus triumphing 3-0 on the day, before going on to win the title on home soil.

The coach was also keen to point out that all the games will be important, instead of focusing on just Raymond Domenech's team, who they play in their final group encounter on June 22.

He added: "All the games will be important, there is no point in getting a good result against Mexico and then go on to lose to Uruguay and France. So we have to prepare for the whole challenge. But we are optimistic and looking forward to a good tournament."

Mexico boss Javier Aguirre was wary of facing a coach with the pedigree of Parreira, but felt the opportunity to play in the opening game offered his side a great chance to showcase their ability.

"The first match against South Africa will be very hard, because they are the host country and they will try and be as good as possible. Also, they have the fans and a trainer that has been a world champion, so we are aware of that.

"For us this is a great opportunity to show what we can do on the big stage. Uruguay and France are both very tough teams too, but we will do what we can to get ourselves out of the group.

"The styles in this group are very different and it will be a special blend of football. It's going to be a question of arriving in South Africa in very good condition."

France coach Domenech was pleased with the draw, which will see his side kick off their campaign against the South Americans on June 11, before meeting Mexico six days later and the hosts on the 22nd.

He said: "It's a group like the others and seems very balanced. There are four teams that are all tough, so we will be trying to win all of the games to qualify.

"It's never easy to play against the host country, but we'll give it all we can. It will be our last match in the group (against South Africa) and we always know that players can raise their game in front of a great home crowd."

Uruguay, who were world champions in 1930 and 1950, will also fancy their chances from the group and coach Oscar Washington Tabarez added: "I don't feel that this is the most difficult group, so I'm confident in our chances.

"Nobody knows how each team will be six months from now. All of our opponents are difficult, but none of them are out of our reach. The difficulty should motivate us even more to play a great World Cup."