Thailand will face two former champions Germany and Norway at next year's Women's World Cup after the draw was conducted in Quebec on Saturday.
The other team in Group B is Ivory Coast, who, like Thailand, will make their World Cup debut at next year's tournament, which will be held in Canada June 6-July 5.
The top two teams of each group, plus the four best third-placed sides, will advance to the knockout stages.
"It is a tough group as Germany and Norway are world-class teams," said Thailand manager Nuanphan Lamsam. "We know that it will be a very difficult task for us in our first World Cup appearance.
"The other three teams are ranked higher than Thailand and we must be ready for the challenge mentally and physically. We must be well-prepared and we will have a series of warm-up matches ahead of the tournament."
Thailand will begin their campaign against Norway on June 7, and will then face Ivory Coast on June 11 and Germany on June 15.
Defending champions Japan were handed a dream draw, while the United States face a rocky road to the final.
Japan will be expected to brush aside Switzerland, Cameroon and Ecuador in Group C.
"If you see the teams on paper, yes they do look like easy opponents," Sasaki said. "But we won't disrespect any side. It will be important to finish top of the group in style and for everyone to be focused on going on to win the title again."
Japan stunned the United States in a penalty shoot-out in the 2011 decider to become the first Asian world title winners at any level.
Sasaki's side added the Asian Cup earlier this year, having been pipped to the gold by the US at the 2012 London Olympics.
Their American rivals were drawn in a devilish Group D with Australia, ranked 10th in the world, Nigeria and Sweden — a European powerhouse ranked fifth in the world and only unseeded for 'geographic reasons'.
American coach Jill Ellis insisted the games would be good preparation for the latter stages of the tournament in their quest for a third World Cup title, and first since 1999. Germany are the only other two-time winners of the event first played in 1991.
"It's a good group to get us ready to play," Ellis said. "It's probably the toughest group, but we've got a lot of depth on our roster.
"That's historically been the path the USA has taken, and we're obviously going to embrace it.
"You've got to play good teams to win it. We'll be ready."
However, Australia coach Alen Stajcic promised his 'Matildas' would fear nobody.
"We can't wait to play the No.1 team in the world in the first game," he said of his side's crunch game against the United States in Winnipeg on June 8.
"You expect to play the best teams at a World Cup and we certainly got that in our group." bangkok post/agencies