Russia have beaten England in the fight to host the 2018 World Cup.
England and Russia plus two joint bids from Netherlands/Belgium and Spain/Portugal were contesting the 2018 decision.
The announcement of the winning bid was made by FIFA president Sepp Blatter at Zurich's Messezentrum.
The 22 men on FIFA's executive committee heard half-hour presentations from each of the four competing European bids this morning.
Russia presented itself as a huge nation which had never before staged the World Cup, contrasting it with western Europe where all the major nations have staged the event.
Alexei Sorokin, the Russian bid's CEO, began by quoting Winston Churchill's famous description of Russia as "a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma."
He said: "We can understand this perception that foreigners have but it's a Russia...that no longer exists."
England may have suffered from a backlash against corruption investigations into FIFA members by BBC Panorama and the Sunday Times over the last two months. These investigations were criticised both by Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin and Spain/Portugal bid president Angel Villar Llona in his presentation to fellow FIFA members on Thursday.
Six FIFA officials were last month suspended following a Sunday Times investigations and on Monday, BBC Panorama claimed three other FIFA members had taken bribes in the 1990s.
The defeat comes despite an impressive presentation by England that was described by Blatter as "excellent and remarkable".
Prince William, David Cameron and David Beckham all sparkled but were all outshone by 27-year-old Eddie Afekafe, who works on Manchester City's community programmes.
Source: Eurosport
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