Moscow: Russia basked in the glory of being awarded the 2018 World Cup as football fans in sports bars waved flags and screamed "Russia! Russia!" on Thursday in celebration of what Prime Minister Vladimir Putin called a deserved victory.
FIFA voted in Zurich to send the sport's biggest event to Eastern Europe for the first time, overlooking bids from England, Spain-Portugal and Belgium-Netherlands.
Putin, who personally lobbied throughout the bid campaign, said he would immediately fly to Switzerland to thank voters for their decision.
"Russia loves football. Russia knows what football is and in our country we have everything to conduct the 2018 World Cup on a very worthy level," Putin said. "The decision corresponds with FIFA's philosophy for developing football, especially in those regions of the world where that development is needed."
Earlier, Putin had said "Russia deserves the World Cup."
Putin was such a key figure in Russia's bid that when he announced on Wednesday that he would not deliver a speech in Zurich, many observers wrote off the country's chances.
But his charm — and control over the country's vast oil-fueled revenues — appears to have swayed the 22 voters of FIFA's executive committee.
Putin was reportedly in a meeting with Russia's chief rabbi Berel Lazar when FIFA announced its decision.
President Dmitry Medvedev, who played no visible role in securing the event, wrote on his Twitter account: "Hurrah! Victory! We're hosting the 2018 championship!"
"Now we have to get ready for hosting the World Cup. And, of course, perform well," Medvedev wrote.
Former Manchester United and Russia winger Andrei Kanchelskis said he was glad FIFA decided to give Russia the World Cup.
"Yes, the English could hold the tournament today, but, you see, in seven years the requirements will be different," Kanchelskis said in television interview. "There will be stadiums, hotels and airports. It's a big plus for us to start from scratch."
The announcement was met with jubilation in a high-end sports bar in downtown Moscow, where dozens of football fans jumped into the air, hugged and kissed each other and chanted "Russia! Russia!"
Russia is so ill-prepared for a World Cup that its bid was based on computer graphics and blueprints to give FIFA executives some idea of what stadiums and transport infrastructure might look like by 2018. Only one of the country's stadiums meet the organization's requirements.
Russia has vowed to waive visas and provide free ground transport for all ticket holders.
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