2011 Rugby World Cup the first Asian nation to host the first Rugby World Cup. Japan had the necessary infrastructure already in place, by virtue of its co-hosting the 2002 FIFA World Cup. South Africa had hosted the tournament in 1995. The 2011 South African bid, led by former national captain Francois Pienaar, had strong support from their national government. South Africa had also won the right to host the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The IRB Council meeting in Dublin on 17 November 2005 announced that New Zealand had been selected after IRB inspections of each applicant host nation during June and July 2005.
2005 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup qualification (UEFA playoffs) in the 2004 Euro Beach Soccer League, being France, Portugal and the Ukraine. The teams who finished in fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh were called back to compete for the final place at the world cup, however seventh place Belgium declined the invitation to participate, so eighth place Austria competed instead. The nations played in a simple knockout format, starting with the semi-finals. 2005 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup qualification (UEFA playoffs) The 2005 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup qualification playoffs for (UEFA) was a special, one-off beach soccer tournament to determine the fourth European nation that would be competing