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By Pete Wilson
2 December 2010
Russia won the right to stage the 2018 World Cup today after a Fifa Executive Committee vote sent England crashing out in the first round. Qatar then landed the right to host the 2022 event after four rounds of voting, having led every round.
The result means Fifa will take the World Cup to new frontiers, including a desert in summer 2022. Typical temperatures in Qatar in July are 46 degrees (115), and the nation is hotter than the Sahara.
Fifa has released the voting details as follows:
2018 World Cup first round: Russia 9, Spain-Portugal 7, Netherlands-Belgium 4, England 2. England eliminated then Russia crossed the line in the second round with 13 votes, with Spain-Portugal maintaining their seven, and Netherlands-Belgium down to two. It can be assumed England’s two votes were from England’s Geoff Thompson and Japan’s Junji Ogura, who both then switched to Russia.
It will inevitably be theorised that Spain had a solid block of seven as a result of Qatar-Spain collusion, but beyond that core block, there was nothing else, and remaining floaters went for Russia over England. Spain-Qatar have always denied collusion.
2022 World Cup first round: Qatar 11, South Korea 4, USA 3, Japan 3, Australia 1. Australia elimiated, then second round Qatar 10, USA 5, S Korea 5, Japan 2, Japan out. Third round: Qatar 11, USA 6, S Korea 5, and out. Fourth round: Qatar 14, USA 8.
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