Thursday marks the end of a long and vicious battle for hosting rights to the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, but Japan will look to Zurich more in hope than expectation of winning the latter.
The destination of two tournaments will be decided simultaneously for the first time, with a European nation guaranteed the 2018 edition and Japan competing with Qatar, the U.S., Australia and 2002 sparring partner South Korea for the right to organize the event in 2022.
The bidding process has been extraordinarily bloody. Two FIFA executive committee members have been suspended following an English newspaper expose of vote-selling, allegations of collusion have been rife, and vendettas, power games and politicking have all been to the fore as the nine hopefuls clamber over each other to reach the prize.