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All eyes were on Argentina/Portugal, billed as the Messi v. Ronaldo clash by just about everyone, but I like to think of it as the inferior version of El Clasico.  Barcelona and Real Madrid are better than Argentina and Portugal in just about every way, mostly thanks to the Spanish internationals playing at the peak of their careers right now.

I don’t mean to snub great players like Ever Banega, Esteban Cambiasso, Joao Moutinho or Raul Meireles, and I am aware the match was a friendly and so the players, mindful of upcoming games, may not have given everything.  And I do not think that only the Spanish contribute to the superiority of the club teams, but Casillas, Valdes, Xavi, Pique, David Villa, Puyol, Xabi Alonso, Ramos, Iniesta, and Pedro would surely find their way into the international set-up of either Portugal or Argentina.  Similarly, I think other Barcelona/Madrid players would do the same, especially Dani Alves, Mesut Ozil, Kaka and Eric Abidal.

While many rightly focus on Messi and Ronaldo as the two centerpieces of their teams, I believe last night’s match was really a battle between the coaches, and I can say that both won, despite the 2-1 scoreline favoring Argentina.  The underwhelming World Cup performances of both Argentina and Portugal were probably due to bizarre selection, and even stranger tactics from Argentina’s and Portugal’s respective managers.

Last night, finally, after an excruciating World Cup where Messi would collect the ball at the halfway line and attempt to create chances/dribble the entire opposition, Lionel was advanced to positions where he could much more effective.  The first goal even looked like one of those vintage Messi moments that have become his trademark of genius: the Argentine, on the right, ran at the (terrified) defenders at pace, cut in left at the top of the eighteen yard box, ran parallel to the goal line while skipping around two challenges, and then, when everyone was expecting a glory-finish, La Pulga split two more defenders with a pass so perfectly weighted that Angel di Maria could tap it around the goalkeeper with his weaker right foot.

If the top left corner of the eighteen yard box is called “La Zona Del Piero” in Italian football, the top right must now be called “La Zona Messi” in Spanish football.

And, finally Cristiano Ronaldo he has stopped being the lone center forward of Portugal.  While he certainly has the attributes of no. 9 finishers (pace, two-footed shooting, heading, goal-hunger bordering on selfishness, quick reactions), I think the new Ronaldo is better behind a forward, even a not-so-thrilling one like Hugo Almeida.  And while CR7 still has the tendency to try huge shots from distance that rarely come off, Ronaldo is more likely to pass with someone in front of him, to involve players like Nani in the buildup, etc.  Portugal look much better for this tactical shift.  The painful long passes to Ronaldo that we all saw towards the end of Portugal/Spain in the World Cup are hopefully things of the past.

The new coaches of Argentina and Portugal, it seemed to me, may have swallowed their egos, their desires to find new ways to field the best players in the world and be hailed for it, and simply did the obvious: they played no. 10 and no. 7 in the positions from which they have profited the most at the club level.  There is no shame in taking lessons from great coaches, and if Paulo Bento and Sergio Batista were inspired by the style of Frank Rijkaard, Pep Guardiola, Alex Ferguson, and Jose Mourinho, then two of the best national teams in the world can only benefit.

Don’t let the title of this article fool you: of course I think Cristiano Ronaldo is still Portugal’s best player.  It’s just that sometimes recently, he’s had to do it on his own.  And when he hasn’t shown up to work, the results have been downright embarrassing.

In the past decade, football fans have witnessed Portugal wax to almost Euro 2004 winners and routine vanquishers of Brazil (in friendlies mostly, but still), and then wane to something less than.

Currently they occupy an ambiguous position where they’re not real contenders for a major international trophy, but on their day, can trash anybody.  It’s difficult to see them negotiating a knockout stage the way Spain did — beating Holland, Germany, Paraguay and of course, Portugal, to win the World Cup.  But it’s also hard to see them treading the Dutch’s route (Slovakia, Brazil, Uruguay before losing to Spain) or Germany’s (England and Argentina before losing to Spain).  What’s happening here?

During the 2010 World Cup they escaped their challenging group by avoiding loss to Brazil and got dumped out of the tournament by Spain.  Through this game we can see Portugal’s problem.  They still have  the problem today, but maybe they have a way out of it, too.  Towards the end of the Spain game and down a goal, the Portuguese team would often just lob a ball to lonely Cristiano Ronaldo up top, who was quickly and comfortably closed down by the Spanish defense.  The Portuguese support players didn’t know how to get past their Iberian counterparts, and the attacks usually died before the commentators could begin to describe it.

When talking about Spain, people can’t refer to “the support” because over half the team has ability to change games.  Fabregas, ostensibly a support player for Spain though clearly one of the most complete midfielders in England, played the ball to Iniesta to win the tournament.  The support team on Portugal can be the ten players behind Ronaldo, which is never the recipe for success in football.  I don’t mean to slight the very solid players they have, but as of summer 2010, only Cristiano Ronlado was a game changer.

Now, as Nani said of himself recently, there could be another one in the works.  While it’s easy to mock his arrogance, Nani is right in that he is winning games for Manchester United.  He is decisive, or at least he has been for the opening part of the season.  Whether he can continue this form will be vital for United, but more so for Portugal.

If someone can help the Real Madrid man create chances, take on opponents, score goals — and do this all well enough to win matches — then Portugal will have a much better chance than they’ve had in the past 2 major tournaments, where “Ronaldependencia” might have cost them.  Look at the demolition that Portugal inflicted on Spain most recently.  It’s not as if Ronaldo was the only player on the pitch.  To be sure he was excellent, and his excellence raised the game of his compatriots.  But Nani showed up in fine form too, making Portugal that much harder to contain.

It’s currently unclear if midfield players like Raul Meireles, Miguel Veloso and Coutinho can hold the center of the pitch adequately against top opponents, or if the center back pairing of Pepe and Bruno Alves will be stingy enough (after Carvalho hangs up his boots).  But perhaps a newly excellent Nani in attack, coupled with the exciting Fabio Coentrao and the always-determined Ronaldo can lead Portugal towards something great again.

This isn’t to say Nani is the only other good player on the team.  There is plenty of talent in Portugal, as evidenced by the savage defeat of Spain.  It’s just that of all the players, Nani is the most likely to help bring the team to new heights.

Amid the sort-of joy and sort-of pain that comes with the wins and losses of international friendlies (barring of course, the big rivalries that were played out on Wednesday — Argentina/Brazil, Spain/Portugal, England/France, etc.), FIFA managed to slip in an innocuous report on their website, complete with a link to a 23-page PDF evaluating the candidates for the 2018 and 2022 World Cup.

And, shockingly early as it seems, “on 2 December 2010, the FIFA Executive Committee will announce its verdict and award the hosting rights to the two best candidates.”

Personally I’m still in a state of semi-exhaustion from the recent World Cup and the seemingly immediate uptake of the club season with all the drama of a suddenly competitive Premier League (do we have Manchester City’s money to thank?), a Real Madrid team that looks set to challenge Barcelona after two years of impossibly meek performances from Los Blancos, and the slide of Inter that coincided with the arrival of Rafa Benitez.  And now all of a sudden FIFA will make or break the hearts of hundreds of millions on Dec. 2.

So what does the longish report tell us?  What is buried in those 23-pages?

As it turns out, a whole lot of OK news for pretty much everybody.

The big question pertains to England and the reality TV worthy spat between the FA and the Russian Football union that resulted in some jingoistic nation bashing and not a whole lot else.  FIFA remained silent on the well publicized issue in this report, which isn’t terribly surprising given the ultra technical nature of the thing.  As an example from FIFA about Russia’s transportation issues:

“The country’s vastness and its remoteness from other countries, coupled with the fact that the high-speed railway network is limited and would only link six candidate Host Cities by 2018, would put pressure on the air traffic infrastructure, potentially causing transfer challenges in view of the lack of alternative means of long-distance transport. The current air traffic situation is to be improved throughmajor upgrades and capacity increases to the majority of the airports.”

If you braved that FIFA-always-attempting-to-be-neutral paragraph and are hoping for England for 2018, then you’re probably happy.  In short, the paragraph stated that transportation is an important feature of the World Cup and Russia’s infrastructure is currently inadequate.

But every nation was given a finger wag by FIFA.  It’s just hard to tell precisely which finger wag is a big deal.  For instance, FIFA raised concerns over legal issues regarding the United States’ bid, citing a lack of government guarantees.  This would seem to be a major issue, although FIFA noted that the USA has hosted a great deal of international events and the government has always complied in the past.

Similarly, the Iberian bid was questioned for not having a clear enough security plan, although again FIFA conceded that they would likely have solved such details in time to host the tournament.

In fact, the biggest criticisms that cannot be foreseeable altered to satisfaction in the next 8 or 12 years pertains to location and bid type.  For Spain/Portugal and Holland/Belgium, FIFA expressly notes that double bids are more challenging due to the “administrative, logistical and financial challenges” of two nations.

The other serious problem for FIFA seems  to be money.  In Australia, Korea and Japan, FIFA has noted that due to the time differences, “the income from Asia/Oceania would need to be increased substantially to offset the likelihood of loss of revenue in Europe.”

A last concern was the devastating heat of Qatar during June and July, which was essentially cited as a health risk to most people at the tournament, although such sentiment was phrased in far more polite language.

I would assume these three concerns would be FIFA’s greatest since they cannot be easily altered the way hotels, and even stadia and transport infrastructure can be, but FIFA’s history of making political decisions ahead of football ones suggest these obstacles aren’t insurmountable.

In conclusion, I sense England has come out of this evaluation slightly ahead of their rivals for 2018.  The criticisms against the bid seemed less severe than against the others, although again, in FIFA’s arid and conscientious tone, it is difficult to tell.

As for 2022, I feel the USA is an attractive option because of the very high potential for revenue (the highest ticketing revenue of all the bids) and its history in hosting.  Qatar has novelty but lacks the draw of all the other host countries in my lifetime.

With a UEFA winner guaranteed from 2018, the bids from Spain/Portugal and Holland/Belgium for 2022 have been rendered void due to consecutive hosting rules from FIFA.  With the remaining options, I feel that the winner will either be USA or Qatar (advantage US), based on the simple assumption that revenue loss will deter FIFA from the Asia/Oceania time zone.

Note 20/11/10: This article has been edited in light of an error regarding FIFA policy.

1. Croatia – Malta

Croatia beat Malta, no surprises there.  The only reason I start with this match is its status as a qualifier.  And to talk about Niko Kranjcar.  Harry Redknapp is unappreciative of the obviously gifted Croatian and the rumors are flying that he’s looking to leave.  I’d urge Mr. Redknapp to reconsider, especially after this performance.

While a brace against Malta is no brace against Spain, Kranjcar is the sort of player that Spurs should learn to manage in order to become more competitive.  He’s got the goods to play for a top team, and a sale to an EPL club would hurt their ambition.  With Lennon still not delivering, and over reliance  on Gareth Bale and Rafael van der Vaart becoming problematic in the face of injuries, why not give Kranjcar a spot as a right sided attacking midfielder?

Next was Argentina against Brazil in Qatar…

2. Argentina – Brazil

Although Argentina won, I have more to say about Brazil, but first – Mr. Messi.  The real positive for Argentina is that Messi can have a so-so night and still decide to run half the length of the pitch before nutmegging his marker with a low shot that beats the keeper.  Sure it was only one goal and the defense didn’t seem to be moving at 100% pace, but a friendly of this nature is never a friendly.  Second, praise for Javier Pastore, who scored a hat trick this weekend but only partially showed why a big club will almost certainly splash out big money for him this summer.  If he gels with the Argentina front three Los Albiceleste will be a horrifying opponent for everyone.

That being said, Brazil to me looked better on the pitch.  If this were a league fixture I’d say a point a piece would be fair, but since only reputations (in a friendly) were at stake, I doubt many of the players, especially the veterans, will be beating themselves up too much about the loss.

A positive they can take from this is that Ronaldinho is not finished for them.  He was perhaps too much of a fantasia (an attempted back heel goal might have been buried by a swivel and hard shot) but it was his first performance for Brazil since Dunga had decided on the players he would take to the World Cup.

Lastly, Chelsea should take heart from Ramires’ wonderful performances at the center of the pitch.  He was a great marker but also wasn’t a bad when Brazil needed men forward.  If Carlo Ancelotti was watching, he might be considering how to tinker with the Chelsea lineup to get such efforts out of the Brazilian.

3. England – France

England lose and France win; an ancient rivalry marks another event; what else can we take from this?  It certainly seems that Laurent Blanc has go his players singing the national anthem; Fabio Capello doesn’t seem nearly as interested in making his England players display the same patriotic feelings.

As for football matters, the French deserved their victory.  They created more clear chances and looked the senior team, although they, like the Three Lions, had a fresher look about them than the teams of South Africa 2010.  While France’s new faces might be more a matter of long term plan than England’s (which may have been more injury related), the integration has been done more smoothly.

With players who have amassed plenty of club caps but fewer international caps (Adil Rami, Mathieu Valbuena), Les Blues played a more balanced game.  There were no Kieran Gibbs on the pitch for France, a player thrown into England with fewer than 35 Arsenal caps in all competitions, including those tough Carling Cup fixtures!  Instead, the youngsters for France (M’Vila and Sakho) has almost 50 caps in less than a season and a half for Rennes and over 100 for PSG, respectively. Both are considered integral parts of the set up; Gibbs is a fringe presence at Arsenal, especially this season.

Extras:

The Iberian Derby was a total rout.  Sergio Ramos apparently forgot what his teammate Ronaldo can do.  Mourinho seems to have held Ramos in check to great effect for Real Madrid.  Sure, he doesn’t bomb forward to terrorize the opponents as he used to, but Madrid is no longer left exposed to counter attacks.  Perhaps Spain should take a lesson.  Manchester United will be pleased to see Nani’s boast about being a top player wasn’t all talk, either.  As for Spain, the whole world knows how they play.  They seem unwilling to change the (very effective) philosophy.  Top teams with top coaches can exploit this.

David Villa’s goal for Spain against Portugal Tuesday was top class. Everything from Iniesta’s pass to Xavi’s back heel to David Villa’s killer strike that rebounded off the goalkeeper and back to him, and then into the top of the net.

But it should have been disallowed for offside.

Watch the above video to see the incident and to see how both the referee and assistant referee’s line of sight were blocked.

HT to 101 Great Goals.

The group stages have concluded and now we can all look forward to good old fashioned knockout Football. What this World Cup has provided us so far has been, well, a bit baffling really, it has provided little in the way of genuine thrills and excitement but a huge amount of intrigue. It has been engrossing and most importantly it has provided some genuine surprises.

Group A was the setting for the demise of the French, no heart, no passion, no cohesion, spats, rows and fallouts equalled one point for Les Bleus and a shameful early flight home. Henry should’vedone the world a favour and kept his hand by his side. Uruguay and Mexico qualified from the group with relative ease, both sides have shown through some assured displays that they are more than capable of having a successful run in this World Cup. It was such a disappointment not to see the South Africans get through, maybe naivety, nerves and a little bit of expectation got the better of them, particularly against the Uruguayans, yet their performances either side of that game were impressive and it was a shame not to see the host nation progress. The South African squad, unlike the French, can hold their heads high.

Argentina somewhat strolled through Group B, winning all three games, as impressive as that looks on paper there do appear to be a few cracks in the Argentinean side, particularly at the back. As yet you couldn’t really put them down as nailed on finalists. South Korea qualified as runners up, they are a well organised outfit and create plenty of openings going forward, they make for a tricky opposition. Elsewhere in Group B Greece were Greece and Nigeria were bitterly disappointing, their campaign will only be remembered for Yakubu’s astonishing miss against the Koreans.

The USA claimed top spot in Group C with virtually the last kick of the group, securing a berth in arguably the easier side of the draw. It was no less than the Americans deserved, particularly after clawing their way back from two nil down in their previous match to claim a vital point. England finished runners up, after being vilified for their part in two drab draws they secured qualification with a One nil victory over Slovenia, England may live to regret not converting more of their chances, they now face a tricky route through the knockouts. Far from being spectacular Algeria and Slovenia ensured that qualification for the US and England was not as comfortable as many imagined it would be.

The ever efficient Germans got their World Cup off to a flying start, breezing past an awful Australian side in a four nil rout. That German efficiency went missing in game two when they fell to a one nil defeat at the hands of Serbia. Group D   like most groups was wide open going into the final round of matches. A one goal victory against the Ghanaians clinched top spot for Joachim Low’s men. Ghana finished second, salvaging some pride for what has been a poor World Cup for the African nations. To be fair there wasn’t much between the three sides that finished below the Germans, the Australians were vastly improved after their first display and the Serbs looked well organised and difficult to beat. It was Ghana’s win in their first game which proved how crucial it is to get points on the board as early as possible.

The Dutch waltzed to 9 points in Group E without even having to get out of second gear. Japan finished a thoroughly deserving second. Denmark and Cameroon were quite frankly awful in what was possibly the dullest group of the tournament. The Indomitable Lions, for me, have been the let down of 2010 so far.

Group F was home to the shock of the Tournament, Italy not only failed to qualify but finished bottom of their group. On the back of two lacklustre draws no one expected the Italians to fall short again in their last match. You have to credit the Slovakians for playing with such belief, it has to be the game of the tournament so far, and in contrast to the French, despite their shocking start the Italians fought all the way in their final game and very nearly pulled off a great escape in the dying seconds. Special mention must go to New Zealand, to finish undefeated in a group containing the Azzurri, Paraguay and Slovakia is some achievement for the All Whites and it is a shame three sides could not progress from Group F because no one would begrudge them 90 more minutes of World Cup Football.

Brazil finished top of the pile in Group G with Portugal qualifying as runners up. The Ivory Coast were another African disappointment and the North Koreans went from terrific to terrible in three games. Brazil look strong, their two defensive midfielders play a priceless role and have so far been fantastic, if their more creative colleagues hit form then the boys from Brazil will be the team to beat.

In the final group Chile continued to wave the South American flag proudly. They played with the freedom and expression expected from Group favourites Spain. The Spanish did not buck the trend of struggling European sides, leaving qualification to the last game after a less than convincing start, but they did manage to turn things around and claim top spot. Switzerland were their normal no nonsense selves, set up not to lose and not to be pleasing on the eye. I would like to say the Hondurans did more than just make up the numbers, sadly I can’t.

As the World Cup heads into stage two a lot of teams will try to forget their struggles in the group stages. This is the business end of the tournament and it’s game one as far as they are concerned, if you slip up now you don’t get another chance to set things right. There is still no real favourite, results wise it has been one of the most unpredictable World Cups so far, one thing we know is that every side is beatable. The form book was thrown out of the window during the group stages, and there’s no indication that will change in the knockouts.

You often hear people talking about how soccer players should use their head when playing the sport. But you seldom hear or see them talking about using their neck.

However, that’s exactly what Portugal maestro Cristiano Ronaldo did Monday during his team’s 7-0 mauling of North Korea when he rolled the ball off the back of his neck into his path to score one of the goals of the tournament.

Amazing!

Since 1990, when Cameroon became the first African nation to reach the Quarter Finals of the World Cup, only one other African country has made it to the same point, Senegal in 2002. Despite the consistent leaps in quality, ability and tactical attitude, Africa has consistently failed to make the next breakthrough on the world stage. Critics can point to perhaps the continents best team, Egypt, not being in the finals, but Egypt traditionally struggle to qualify for the World Cup.

With continental advantage at hand, could Africa begin to consistently trouble the latter stages of the World Cup at last? It just seems unfortunate that only one of the six qualifiers this year looks capable of getting in to the last eight in South Africa. For me, the Ivory Coast stand head and shoulders above all the other African representatives even before they enticed Sven-Goran Eriksson to take the helm this summer.

As a squad, the depth and experience of the Elephants squad is clearly the strongest of the African nations in all parts of the field with talismanic striker Didier Drogba leading the team on and off the pitch. Add to that the options that players of the calibre of the Toure brothers, Guy Demel, Bakary Kone, Didier Zokora, Salomon Kalou and Aruna Dindane give you and you have a strong line up to match most sides in the tournament. The fact that they’ve found themselves in the same group as Brazil and Portugal and expected whipping boys North Korea shouldn’t fill them with fear.They can qualify from this group.

Under no circumstances is this the free flowing samba styled Brazil we’ve been brought up on over the last few years. Head coach Dunga has installed a pragmatic formation and tactical set that keeps the midfield anchored but allowing the wingers and fullbacks to bomb forward. It’s an interesting variation on the standard Brazilian style, more reminiscent of the 1994 winning side than the 2002 winning side.After they way they slumped out of the competition in 2006, they’ll be keen to be more clinical.

Portugal on the other hand can thank a favourable seeding in the European play-offs for getting to the World Cup. A side that seems to be on the way down, huffing and puffing its way through qualification. Despite the hype, Ronaldo, similarly to Messi, doesn’t seem to play as we know him at the international level. North Korea have the surprise element, but I doubt we’ll have a repeat of their amazing shock of the 1966 finals.

We’ve a situation where one of the 3 big teams in this group will be going home and with Brazil and Portugal clashing as their last fixture, the Ivory Coast will be aware that they could be in a situation that they could send home one of the Portuguese speaking nations. Would it be a big shock? Not really, if anything, Portugal are the ones who have it all to do to get through. The tournament needs the best African side to go through as the only other contenders, Cameroon and Ghana often flatter to deceive.

World Cups have no time for sentiment, but the Ivory Coast have a chance to write a little bit of history and each of the three teams will be desperate to finish top as I can’t see Spain not winning Group H. Eriksson will be at his 3rd World Cup and despite his faults, is still one of the most experienced managers in the world. Adding his pragmatic tactics to the Ivory Coast’s boundless exuberance could be a match made in heaven. Brazil and Portugal will be hoping the cocktail doesn’t taste as sweet in action.

Leave me your comments below and you can follow me on http://twitter.com/paulbestall

Kicking off the World Cup Buzz podcast’s two months of coverage, the Talk network welcomes back Andy Brassell, one of the media’s leading experts on professional football in Western Europe. Andy joined me late last week to talk about the nations from his coverage area who will be competing in South Africa as well as offer a pick for this summer’s finals.

We will be back with another expert on tomorrow’s podcast, but until then, please enjoy Andy Brassell’s views on some of the European nations we’ll start seeing coming June 11.

Author’s Note: You never hear Andy plug it, but Andy has a rather good book in print All or Nothing: A Season in the Life of the Champions League which he didn’t mention during our interview, but given how gracious Andy is to not only this show much to so many others, I wanted to relay my recommendation.

The Football Association was once again rocked by scandal when Lord Treisman, chairman of both the FA and England’s 2018 World Cup bid, was forced to resign after the Mail On Sunday published excerpts from a conversation in which Treisman accused Spain and Russia of conspiring to bribe officials in South Africa.

The comments came from a secretly-recorded conversation between Treisman and Mellissa Jacobs, a former aid and romantic partner. Treisman speculated that Russia would assist Spain in bribing the referees to favor the Spanish side during the World Cup. In exchange, Spain, a long shot to hold the 2018 World Cup, would withdraw their bid and switch allegiances to Russia, England’s main competition.

“There’s some evidence that the Spanish football authorities are trying to identify the referees…and pay them,” Triesman allegedly said. “My assumption is that the Latin Americans, although they’ve not said so, will vote for Spain. And if Spain drop out, because Spain are looking for help from the Russians to help bribe the referees in the World Cup, their votes may then switch to Russia.”

The FA allegedly tried to get an injunction against the Mail on Sunday in an attempt to stop the story from being printed but withdrew the injunction after a 90-minute legal battle. “After fully discussing and considering the alleged comments with Lord Triesman, The FA Board accepted his resignation as FA Chairman and Chairman of the World Cup Bid Board with immediate effect,” said a statement released by the FA Sunday morning.

The scandal comes just days after David Beckham delivered England’s 1,752-page bid book to FIFA outlining their bid for the 2018 tournament.

The turmoil in the FA over recent years and the embarrassment over the inability for the FA to keep Wembley, the marquee football stadium in England, match fit has seriously damaged the country’s bid. So what does that mean for the other countries involved in the bidding process? It has been all but confirmed by FIFA that the 2018 tournament will be held in Europe with four countries in the running. England and Russia are the front runners while joint bids from Spain/Portugal and Belgium/Netherlands are considered dark horses. Russia has come on to the international stage by successfully hosting a Champion’s League final in 2008 and serious backing from their government bolsters their legitimacy . Working against Russia is the lack of a strong domestic league and the sheer size of the country would make it difficult for teams to travel from venue to venue.

If England fails the country that would receive the biggest boost to their bid would be the USA. FIFA has not awarded consecutive World Cup’s to countries that share a common language since the 70′s. With football growing exponentially outside of the traditional hubs South America and Europe it seems unlikely FIFA will grant two-straight cups to countries who are so culturally similar. But the USA offers a bid that warrants no additional stadiums or upgrades to infrastructure. USA 94 set attendance records despite the country having no professional league and a national team that was eliminated in the second round.

Australia’s bid has lost a lot of its momentum with the revelation three new stadiums would need to be built and stark opposition from other Australian sports leagues. After the constant worries during the buildup in South Africa over stadium completion and viability of infrastructure FIFA will be wary of any countries with a lot of work still to do before the tournament starts.

Qatar, once considered an extreme long shot, is now one of the front runners due to public backing by FIFA President Phil Blatter. “The Arabic world deserves a World Cup,” said Blatter on a recent trip to the Middle East. Qatar’s main stumbling block is the extreme heat during the summer months. The average temperature is over 40°C (104°F) during June and July. Bid officals have revealed technology that would be outfitted to their stadiums that can lower the temperature by 20°C to make the heat bearable for players and fans. Qatar, with a population of only 1.3 million, would be by far the smallest nation to host a FIFA World Cup but has the wealth and resources to handle the massive influx of people.

Japan and South Korea submitted separate bids for 2022 despite being co-hosts in 2002. It would be a massive surprise if either of the Asian nations received the tournament because of how recently they hosted the tournament. Japan’s bid relied on the additional stadiums that would be built as part of Tokyo’s 2016 Olympic bid. With Tokyo failing to secure the Olympic games it is unlikely the Japanese government would give the Japanese bid the financial backing it needs to sway FIFA voters. South Korea is in a similar position with not enough stadiums and not enough money to build new ones.

Even if England weathers this public relation hailstorm and secures the 2018 bid the USA would still be considered a front runner in the race for 2022 due to the emergence of the sport and the immense potential for financial gain for FIFA. But Blatter’s constant desire to use the World Cup as a way to introduce the sport to areas of the globe that have no embraces football fully yet gives hope to countries like Qatar and Australia. FIFA’s decision on the location for both the 2018 and 2022 World Cup’s will be revealed this December.