2002 FIFA World Cup qualification (inter-confederation play-offs) played a two-legged home-and-away series. The two winners, decided on aggregate score, qualified for the 2002 FIFA World Cup in South Korea and Japan. The first legs were played on 10 and 20 November 2001, and the second legs were played on 15 and 25 November 2001. <section begin=playoff1 /> <section end=playoff1 /> Republic of Ireland won 2–1 on aggregate and qualified for the 2002 FIFA World Cup. <section begin=playoff2 /> <section end=playoff2 /> Uruguay won 3–1 on aggregate and qualified for the 2002 FIFA World Cup. There were 7 goals scored in 4 matches, for an average of 1.75
FIFA World Cup hosts banned in 2002), because there was only one organizing committee per joint bid, unlike Korea–Japan, which had two different organizing committees. Countries that announced their interest included Australia, England, Indonesia, Japan, Qatar, Russia, South Korea, United States, the joint bid of Spain and Portugal and the joint bid of Belgium and Netherlands. The hosts for both World Cups were announced by the FIFA Executive Committee on 2 December 2010. Russia was selected to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup, making it the first time that the World Cup will be hosted in Eastern Europe and making it the biggest country