Turkey and Croatia among Kosovo's first World Cup opponents

Kosovo's first opponents?

ZURICH (Reuters) - Kosovo will face Croatia, Turkey, Iceland, Ukraine and Finland when they make their debut in the World Cup qualifying competition this year following a decision by UEFA's emergency committee on Thursday.

European soccer's governing body ruled that Kosovo, admitted as a member of both UEFA and global body FIFA last month, should be kept apart from Serbia and Bosnia in competitive matches and allocated the newcomers to European group I.

Gibraltar, who also joined FIFA last month, will face Belgium, Bosnia, Greece, Estonia and Cyprus after they were allocated to Group H.

Kosovo beat Faroe Islands 2-0 in their first officially recognised international last week. The qualifiers start in September.

(Writing by Brian Homewood in Berne, editing by Ian Chadband)