strong2022 World Cup/strongFIFA has made the decision to award Russia the right to host the 2018 World Cup. The Russians faced stiff competition from England, but FIFA's Executive Committee members eventually opted for Russia.

Voting was carried out by the FIFA Executive Committee, of which there are 24 members. These comprise the FIFA president - currently Sepp Blatter - senior vice-president Julio Grondona, seven vice-Presidents (one from each continental association plus one representing one of the 'Home Nations' of the United Kingdom), and 15 members, all of whom are appointed on four-year terms.

There is also a secretary general - France's Jerome Valcke - but he is not able to vote in the ballot. Nor are vice-president Reynald Temarii of Tahiti (OFC) nor Member Amos Adamu of Nigeria (AFC), who have been suspended due to corruption allegations.

Joint bids from Netherlands-Belgium and Spain-Portugal were also in the race to host the tournament, but the low-lying nations and the Iberian bid were not elected in the end.

a href=http://www.goal.com/en/news/3512/20182022-world-cup-host/2010/11/22/222… here for an extensive review of Russia's 2018 World Cup bid./a

It will be the first time in history that Russia get the chance to host the footballing world's most important tournament.

Russia's national side has never survived the group stage of the World Cup since the break up of the Soviet Union and they'll be determined to make it to the knockout stages in eight years time. They were eliminated in the group stages in 1994 and 2002 and failed to qualify for the finals in 1998, 2006 and 2010.

The Sbornaya currently sit first in the table in Group B of the qualifying campaign for Euro 2012 and they have a number of promising youngsters in their ranks who are all eager to make an impact on the world stage.

CSKA Moscow shot stopper Igor Akinfeev is among the top goalkeepers in his age category in Europe, while gifted playmaker Alan Dzagoev has already been linked with a host of big European clubs in the past couple of seasons.

However, current star players such as Andrei Arshavin, Yuri Zhirkov and Roman Pavlyuchenko aren't likely to still be around in 2018.

The World Cup will return to European soil for the first time since 2006, when Germany were the hosts for a rather successful World Cup. The 2018 World Cup will be the 11th 'European edition' of the World Cup.

2022 World Cup

FIFA has made the decision to award Qatar the right to host the 2022 World Cup. The Qatari bid faced stiff competition from USA, but FIFA's Executive Committee members eventually opted for Qatar.

Bids from South Korea, Japan, Australia and United States were also in the race to host the tournament, but the joint hosts of the 2002 World Cup saw their dream fall apart, while the USA and Australia bit the dust as well.

Voting was carried out by the FIFA Executive Committee under the same structure as the bid for 2018.

It will be the first time in history that Qatar get the chance to host the footballing world's most important tournament. However, they will have some experience hosting a major football tournamen come 2018. Qatar are the host nation of the 2011 Asian Cup.

Qatar don't exactly have much of a history at the World Cup, as the Annabi haven't made a single appearance at a World Cup so far.

Nevertheless, the Asians have a number of exciting youngsters in their current set-up and players such as Khalfan Ibrahim, Ali Afif and Abdurabb Al Yazeedi will all be determined to shine on home soil in 2022.

After the 2002 World Cup, it will be the second time in history that the World Cup will be held in Asia.