At the beginning of December 2010, we will find out who will win the right to hold the World Cup in 2018.

Brazil are set to host it in 2014, and few people would argue that it isn’t a worthy destination for the globe’s most illustrious competition. With a fine footballing history, in which it has won more World Cup’s than any other country, it has produced some of the best players the world has seen, including of-course arguably the best player ever in Pele. You would be hard pressed to find a Brazilian who is not a mad soccer fan, and the entire country is set to go crazy when the competition starts in four years time. Soccer and Brazil go hand in hand, and the world cannot wait for the tournament to begin.

Naturally, its going to be a difficult job to follow Brazil, but four candidates want to give it a try.

The competition will go to Europe in 2018. The US was the only non-European country left bidding for the cup, but most people agreed that they have no hope of winning the vote. Quite a while ago Australia pulled out of the running and instead decided to concentrate on the 2022 games, so as not to waste time on what would most likely be a dead bid for 2018. Not long back the US took the same decision, leaving just four contenders for the cup: England, Spain/Portugal, Belgium/Holland and Russia.

Without doubt Spain/Portugal and England deserve to win in terms of footballing fervour. These two countries are mad on soccer, and possess undoubtedly the best two domestic leagues in the world. People eat, breath and sleep soccer in these two countries, and they would for sure put on an amazing show. Spain of-course has the added advantage of possessing the world’s finest national team, and the winners of the 2010 World cup.

Holland and Belgium are also big footballing nations. Their leagues are not so big, but they have a history of footballing excellence. Holland in particular has excelled in recent years as a nation, reaching the World cup final in 2010.

Russia is less soccer mad. Outside of the capital and St. Petersburg, soccer has a relatively limited following, and it does not have a big place in the national conscience. This is a big minus for this country.

In terms of infrastructure, only Russia lags behind. The other three bids have practically all the stadiums required in place, and have the transport links and accommodations that a World Cup requires. Russia does not have these things as yet. What it does have, is the new factor. FIFA likes to experiment, as it did with South Africa, and likes to give developing nations the chance to shine, and for this reason, Russia might win it. Out of the other three, Spain and Portugal have to be the favourites. They have had the fewest problems with the bidding process (England, for instance, have suffered from a number of controversial incidents), and their infrastructure is top of its class (Holland and Belgium would still need to do some building work – in particular an 80,000 seater stadium for the final).

So, in my mind it will go to Spain/Portugal for being the best all round bid, or to Russia for being the unusual bid.

For more information, go to: en.wikipedia.org