November 19 – South African organisers of the 2010 World Cup today held a symbolic flag-raising ceremony at its headquarters in Johannesburg after Uruguay by the 32nd nation to qualify for next year’s tournament, meaning the line-up of nations is now complete.
November 18 – Concerns among the States in Australia over the country’s bid for the 2018 or 2022 World Cup will be discussed by a special Government group in Queensland next month.
November 17 – Vitaly Mutko (pictured) will step down next week as President of the Russian Football Union (RFU) because it clashes with his position as the country’s Sports Minister and he is set to be replaced by Sergei Kapkov, a close friend of Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich.
November 17 – A petition has been launched by football fans in San Diego to support the city’s bid to be part of the World Cup if the United States is chosen to host the 2018 or 2022 tournament.
November 17 – Sports Minister Gerry Sutcliffe (pictured) has claimed that it was his idea for England 2018 to streamline its Board so that it could focus on the campaign to bring the World Cup back to the country for the first time since 1966.
By Tom Degun
November 17 – England have been warned by Tony Woodcock (pictured), one of its high-profile ambassadors, that they are behind European rivals Russia and Spain and Portugal’s joint bid in the race to host the 2018 World Cup.
By Duncan Mackay
November 16 – Simon Greenberg (pictured), the communications and public affairs director at Chelsea, has been appointed as chief of staff for England’s 2018 World Cup bid with special responsibilities with strategic communications.
November 16 – England 2018 will promote their bid to host the World Cup at the Soccerex Global Convention in South Africa later this month to bring the total of rival bidders taking a presence in Johannesburg to six, over half of those competing to stage the event.
By David Owen
November 16 – A World Cup in the United States could attract a staggering five million live spectators, according to a top 2018/2022 US bid committee official.
By Duncan Mackay in Doha
November 15 – England’s bid to host the 2018 World Cup is doing as well as its rivals, Mohamed Bin Hammam (pictured), the President of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), said here today.
By Duncan Mackay in Doha
November 14 – England lost 1-0 to Brazil in the Khalifa Stadium here tonight but the real winner was Qatar’s bid to host the 2022 World Cup as fans from both sets of countries praised the organisation and atmosphere of the occasion.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 14 – FIFA vice-president Jack Warner (pictured), the man who undermined England’s 2018 World Cup bid, has launched another verbal broadside, this time taking Premier League clubs to task for refusing to release players for international duty and denouncing the Football Association for rejecting a request to play a friendly against his country.
By Duncan Mackay in Doha
November 13 – David Beckham (pictured) has been asked to rescue England’s faltering 2018 World Cup by travelling to Cape Town next month to try to influence the 24 men who will decide which country hosts the event.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 13 – Call it papering over the cracks, wielding the axe. Call it what you will. The one question that remains as baffling now as it did before, following the restructuring of England’s 2018 World Cup bid board, is this. Why on earth wasn’t Geoff Thompson (pictured) brought on board from the start?
By Duncan Mackay
November 12 – England has trimmed its bid team for the 2018 World Cup to replace some of the politicians and businessmen on the board with sporting figures but Lord Triesman (pictured) remains as chairman despite speculation he would stand down or be replaced.