Louis van Gaal has been appointed Netherlands coach until the 2014 World Cup, the Dutch Football Association (KNVB) have announced.

The first step has been made to allow GAA grounds be made available for the IRFU to launch a bid to stage the 2023 World Cup in Ireland.

ON the surface it may have all the characteristics of an ordinary international soccer tournament, but for every player taking part in the fifth Homeless Soccer World Cup getting there is as much an achievement as making it to the finals.

The IRFU has announced Ireland’s schedule of warm-up games in the run up to next year’s Rugby World Cup in Japan.

England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson believes the focus should now be on the World Cup this summer after confirming he will leave his post after the tournament in Germany.

Germany expects as many as 1.5 million guests at this summer’s World Cup finals, an official said today, as organisers stepped up efforts to polish their welcome with a national “friendliness campaign.”

The Ireland Sevens are on course for the Sevens Rugby World Cup in 2005 after emerging as winners on the European Sevens Circuit, a pre-qualifier for the World Cup, at Sopot, Poland, over the weekend.

World Cup Pool latest:

Italy captain Alessandro Troncon was delighted his side had buried the memories of their 1999 World Cup defeat to Tonga with a rousing victory in Canberra on Wednesday.

SAUDI ARABIA super striker Talal Al-Meshal has accused German doctors of deliberately releasing false information about his fitness so he would be left out of his side’s World Cup squad.

FIFA has confirmed that the Twitter accounts of president Sepp Blatter and the World Cup team were hacked this evening, with a series of controversial messages left on both.

Franz Beckenbauer believes England should not be downhearted about the fact there will be no English managers at the World Cup.

British Grand Prix organisers are expecting another Silverstone sell-out, despite next year’s race weekend clashing with England’s first game of the World Cup.

Former England captain Lawrence Dallaglio is determined to prove he is worth a place in Brian Ashton’s World Cup squad.

Liverpool midfielder Dietmar Hamann has retired from international football after being overlooked for Germany’s World Cup squad.

Russia have replaced Romania in Ireland's pool in next year's Rugby World Cup.

Ireland’s bid to host the Rugby World Cup in 2023 will be impossible to resist, Taoiseach Enda Kenny has said.

Ireland have confirmed an unchanged 15-man squad for the Cricket World Cup, which starts in the West Indies next month.

UEFA president Michel Platini claims attempts are being made to tarnish his image over his support for Qatar 2022’s World Cup bid.