World Cup decision day: As it happened

SO THERE WE HAVE IT — after a dramatic afternoon that followed months of media speculation, lobbying by the bid teams and controversy surrounding some members of FIFA’s executive committee, the results are finally in:

Russia will host the World Cup in 2018 and Qatar have the event in 2022.

England’s bid for 2018 stumbled badly at the first hurdle — gaining just two of a possible 22 votes — while Australia will be equally disappointed to have gained just one vote at the same stage for the 2022 equivalent.

Thanks for reading — scroll down to see how events unfolded in Zurich.

1725 GMT: It seems Qatar just missed out on the 12 votes needed for an absolute majority in the first round of voting for 2022…

Full results of 2022 voting:

Round 1: Australia1 vote, Japan 3 votes, US 3 votes, South Korea 4 votes and Qatar 11 votes.

Round 2: Japan 2 votes, South Korea 5 votes, US 5 votes and Qatar 10 votes.

Round 3 : South Korea 5 votes, US 6 votes and Qatar 11 votes.

Round 4 : US 8 votes and Qatar 14 votes (Qatar obtain absolute majority)

1720 GMT: Some more depressing news from England’s perspective coming out of Zurich — it turns out their bid for 2018 garnered just two out of a possible 22 votes from the FIFA executive committee members in the first round.

Full results of 2018 voting:

Round 1: England 2 votes, Netherlands/Belgium 4 votes, Spain/Portugal 7 votes, Russia 9 votes.

Round 2: Netherlands/Belgium 2 votes, Spain/Portugal 7 votes and Russia 13 votes (Russia obtain absolute majority)

1717 GMT: “Qatar places the Middle East on the world map,” Sheikh Saud bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, the head of Qatar’s Olympic Committee, gushed in an interview with Al-Jazeera television.

1711 GMT: In the Qatari capital Doha, the temperatures are just a mite above those in Moscow. And unlike in Russian capital, thousands of people were out on the streets to celebrate their victory.

“People were jumping up and down, blowing the now-almost-obligatory vuvuzelas, dancing and singing “Qatar, Qatar!” a colleague in Doha tells me

“By hosting the World Cup, Qatar is showing the way for all Arabs,” Ashraf Jaber, a 34-year-old Egyptian living told my colleague.

“It’ll be just amazing to be able to follow the World Cup in Qatar,” said Robert Khoury, a 25-year-old Lebanese.

1708 GMT: Frustrated United States football supporters warned that the rejected US bid could hurt the sport in America, my colleague Nick Reeves writes from Washington, DC.

“Gutted”, “USA Soccer is set back another 20 years” and “Qatar? Wow. Soccer actually just got less relevant in the US” were among the shocked reactions posted on US Soccer’s Twitter site.

In the wake of a recent FIFA bribery allegations, fans were less than thrilled about losing the chance to host for the second time, the first since 1994.

“Qatar? Time to stop playing along. They can come to us when they want us to care about soccer again. They can bribe us next time,” tweeted one angry fan.

Alexi Lalas, a former US star who handled commentary on ESPN’s US telecast of the FIFA announcement, said Qatar might need a backup host site only moments after the announcement.

“If Qatar can’t do it, it’s coming right to the United States,” he said.

The United States acted as a fill-in host for the 2003 Women’s World Cup after planned host China was struck by a SARS epidemic.

1700 GMT: Some mixed reactions to the news of Russia’s victory from two more analysts in Moscow. Firstly Andrey Riabov from the Carnegie centre in Moscow:

“It?s a great victory for Prime Minister Putin personally, and his team — but I don?t think it will do anything good for the Russian economy.

“It is only a few groups and companies, close to the bid, that will benefit. It?s also possible that the authorities will try to use this news to distract people from the real problems here.?

Dmitri Oreshkin, an independent analyst, clearly has some doubts about Russia’s capability when it comes to building:

“I?m delighted for Russia but I have some doubts about the organisation of the event and the quality of the constructions?

“We?ll have to see how the Winter Olympics are organised here in 2014 and then we?ll be able to say more.?

1655 GMT: Mark Palios, former chief executive of the English FA, has given his reaction to the decision in Zurich:

“I can understand Russia. The strength of England’s bid was maybe a weakness asRussia hasn’t hosted the World Cup before.

Keith Mills, London 2012 and England bid advisor, gave his analysis of the decision:

“I thought it was significant Sepp Blatter was speaking about the World Cup as a means of spreading the game and leaving a legacy,” Mills said.

“Russia has never hosted the World Cup, Qatar has never hosted the World Cup.

“Perhaps FIFA are sending a message to mature football markets like England that maybe they are not their priority.”

1652 GMT: The interest in Moscow has been fairly low-key all day, and in freezing temperatures there were, unsurprisingly, not many people on the streets.

But my colleague Luc Perrot spoke to a few who were out celebrating: ?We?re happy. It?s great for our country — we?re patriots? said one, braving minus 20 degree temperatures in the Russian capital.

1648 GMT: Ruslan Grinberg, head of Russia?s Economic Institute in Moscow, says Russia’s success in winning the right to host the event in 2018 could be a mixed blessing:

“On the one hand, it?s a bad thing for Russia, which is too focused on short-term, grandiose projects and spends lots of money on them — we have other needs that are much more pressing.

“But on the other, football is no longer just football? It opens a new link to the West which will push us to become more modern and to meet the standards and demands of the West.

“It can force us to develop our infrastructure, the roads, to build stadiums, hotels and operate low cost flights in the country.?

1644 GMT: British Prime Minister David Cameron, who helped to lead England’s lobbying drive at FIFA headquarters in Zurich this week, gave his reaction to England’s failure to land the event in 2018:

“It’s hard to to see what more you can do, but in the end it turns out that having the best technical bid, the best commercial bid and a passion for football, that’s not enough — it’s desperately sad.

“There hasn’t been a World Cup in England in my lifetime. I was hoping we could change that, but not this time.”

1638 GMT: Former England captain and current presenter Gary Lineker has given his reaction to the BBC:

“All you can do is wish Russia well and hope they host a really good World Cup but I wish it was us,” Lineker said

“It would have been a huge boost, I won’t pretend otherwise because it would have given the game a massive lift, encouraged youngsters, and development.

“I think we had a really brilliant bid and strong bid and it’s a real shame we’ll never get the chance to prove that.”

1632 GMT: Dmitry Chernyshenko, the head of 2018 Winter Olympics organising committee, has hailed FIFA executive committee’s decision to grant Russia the right to host 2018 World Cup.

“We are delighted that Russia has been selected to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup and congratulate our partners at the Russia 2018 bid committee,” Chernyshenko said.

“Following Sochi 2014’s victory in 2007, the result is a further sign of the transformation taking place in modern Russia and of our enthusiasm to welcome the world to our country and the city of Sochi.

“One direct legacy from the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games will be the Main Stadium, which will host the opening and closing ceremonies, and is now set to host matches at the 2018 FIFA World Cup.”

1625 GMT: England footballer David Beckham, who was part of the bid team in Zurich, has given his reaction to the BBC:

“We didn’t get enough votes at the end of the day.

“Congratulations have to go to the bid team because I think there is a lot of people who have worked very very hard to try to get the World Cup to this country.

“A lot of hard work has been done by Prince William and the Prime Minister — when you come away with nothing it’s disappointing.”

Asked if he had a message to football fans in Britain, Beckham added:

“Apologies that we couldn’t bring the World Cup to our country because there’s no better and more passionate fans in the world than in England.

“The way they follow us as a team, the way they follow us as a nation. It’s just disappointing that we can’t bring the World Cup to them in 2018.”

1621 GMT: Vladimir Putin has said he will go to Zurich to thank FIFA for awarding Russia the right to host the 2018 World Cup.

“I would like to thank the members of the FIFA executive committee for their decision, that they trusted us with staging the football World Cup,” Putin said in televised remarks.

The Russian prime minister, who spearheaded the campaign to bring his country the world’s most-watched sporting event for the first time, said he would travel to Zurich later Thursday.

“I would like to assure the FIFA leadership that we will do everything possible to ensure that the 2018 football World Cup is staged at a deserving level,” Putin said.

1620 GMT: More from our correspondent Denholm Barnetson in Madrid:

“After the 2018 announcement was made, bartender at Marca sports bar started playing Fleetwood Mac’s “Don’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow.”

“Of course I am disappointed, I would like to have seen Spain organise the World Cup again.

“I think we would have done a good job but in these things it is not always the best candidate than wins,” said Ricardo Lopez Saez, a 43-year-old businessman who watched the announcement at the bar with a friend.

1615 GMT: Understandable disappointment amongst fans in Sydney, my colleague there Amy Coopes tells me:

“About 100 diehard Sydney fans gathered for the late night announcement at an official live site on the harbourfront across from the opera house, dressed in the distinctive green and gold national jersey and clown wigs and draped in the Australian flag.

“The foreshore rang with cheers and singing before the announcement but there were tears, angry jeers and looks of devastation as the bid went to Qatar.

“I can’t believe it,” Sydney mother Angela Souris said, wiping back tears.”We had such a strong bid.”

“It was the kangaroo!” one man shouted, referring to widespread local cringe at the video that accompanied Australia’s final pitch in Zurich. Others blamed Oceania for losing what could have been a critical vote.

“Soccer is dead to me,” added Jeremy Tom, 26. “Who goes to Qatar to watch the world game? It’s a joke.”

Others were more philosophical, turning their hopes to the next bid and commending FFA chairman Frank Lowy for Australia’s push.

“We’ve got the Asian Cup finals,” one man sighed. “And anyway, there’s always 2026.”

1612 GMT: Russia will do ‘everything possible’ to stage good World Cup, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has said.

1610 GMT: Russian deputy prime minister Igor Shuvalov said FIFA would not regret handing the sporting showpiece to his country after being presented with the World Cup by FIFA president Sepp Blatter.

“You have entrusted us with the FIFA World Cup for 2018 and I can promise, we all can promise, you will never regret it,” Shuvalov said.

“Let us make history together.”

1605 GMT: This from former England captain Alan Shearer talking to the BBC in Zurich after the announcement:

“Congratulations to Russia, they had a fantastic bid but it’s hard to swallow.

“The way the presentation went this morning, the guys that got up and spoke were absolutely magnificent. We couldn’t have done any more.

“If you try your best and it hasn’t been, at least you can sleep at night. I was hoping that I might see a World Cup in my lifetime in England.

“It’s unfortunate, it’s sad, it hurts but you have to congratulate the winners.”

1601 GMT: More from Mayor of London Boris Johnson, who chairs London United, the group responsible for co-ordinating the capital’s bid.

“We put together a cracking bid, our technical specification was top notch and our stadiums would have been packed to the rafters.

“Londoners love football. This is a blow but we have achieved a great deal with this bid and we have much to look ahead to.”

1552 GMT: This from England captain Rio Ferdinand on Twitter: “Wow Russia will host the World Cup 2018….soooo gutted. What more could we have done? What did we do wrong?”

1549 GMT: More from my colleague Denholm Barnetson in Madrid after the joint Spain-Portugal bid missed out: “Dozens of disappointed Spanish fans in the Marca sports bar jeered and used the ‘thumbs-down’ as Russia was announced as 2018 host.”

1548 GMT: Qatar beat off competition from Australia, the United States, South Korea and Japan for 2022. Quite a surprise.

1545 GMT: QATAR WILL HOST THE 2022 WORLD CUP!!

FIFA president Sepp Blatter announces that Qatar will host the World Cup in 2022.

1542 GMT: Mayor of London Boris Johnson has tweeted his reaction to England’s defeat: “Extremely disappointing. We had an awesome bid and knockout presentation. Can?t quite believe it.”

1537 GMT: RUSSIA WILL HOST THE 2018 WORLD CUP!!

FIFA have awarded the right to host football’s World Cup in eight years time to Russia.

1532 GMT: Sources close to the England bid are reportedly saying that England have been eliminated in the first round of voting.

1527 GMT: Three-minute warning being issued apparently. Journalists in auditorium advised to take their seats. Not long now.

1522 GMT: Dozens of Spanish supporters are chanting “Spain and Portugal!” at the Marca sports bar in central Madrid, where more than 20 television screens were showing the broadcast live from Zurich, my colleague Denholm Barnetson tells me.

Do they know something we don’t?

1518 GMT: There’s been a slight delay with the announcements but we hear they are now imminent.

1514 GMT: We hear that Russia’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has said he will fly in to Zurich after all — but only if Russia win the bid for the 2018 event.

1509 GMT: Journalists crowd into a gloomy auditorium where a replica — or maybe even the real thing — of the World Cup sits on the stage.

Bid officials begin to arrive and Zinedine Zidane, who is backing the Qatar, bid is spotted in the melee by my colleague Rob Woollard. Still no sign of the FIFA grandees however.

1506 GMT: Nearing the moment of truth and there is a palpable sense of tension inside the MesseZentrum conference centre.

A mini-stampede as an announcement over the tannoy advises journalists to head to the auditorium where the vote results will be revealed by FIFA president Sepp Blatter. Spanish television journalists nearby swap high-fives. Calm down people.

1504 GMT: Just a matter of minutes now before the two big decisions — will football be coming home to England in eight years time or will the widely-backed Russian bid hold sway? And will Qatar get the chance to host the Middle East’s first ever World Cup four years later?

1458 GMT: Here are the possible scenarios:

To win: One bid needs an absolute majority – that means 12 of the 22 votes.

If no majority: The bid with fewest votes drops out and another round of voting occurs until majority achieved

If tie: FIFA president Sepp Blatter has the casting vote

Results put in two envelopes and taken to at Zurich’s MesseZentrum conference centre where Blatter will announce winner at around 1510 GMT (in ten minutes time…)

1450 GMT: The 2022 bidders made their final half-hour presentations to FIFA yesterday while 2018 hopefuls had their last chance to impress this morning.

1445 GMT: So, here’s how it’s going to work. The 22 members of the FIFA executive committee have cast their votes now (in a secret ballot) and we’re waiting to hear which of Russia, England or — jointly — Netherlands and Belgium or Spain and Portugal have got the nod for 2018.

Qatar, Australia, USA, Japan, South Korea are in the run-off for 2022.

Just 25 minutes to go before the envelopes are opened…

After years of planning and lobbying by competing nations, the decision on who will get to host the World Cup in 2018 and 2022 is finally due to be announced by FIFA in Zurich, Switzerland at 1510 GMT.

Stay with us for a live update on who will get the chance to host the largest sporting event on Earth in eight and twelve years’ time…