Russia won the right to host soccer’s 2018 World Cup, handing Prime Minister Vladimir Putin his third success in attracting global sports events to boost the economy and rebuild the country’s image as an athletic superpower.

Sepp Blatter, president of the Federation Internationale de Football Association, or FIFA, soccer’s world governing body, made the announcement after an executive committee vote today in Zurich. Russia topped England and joint bids from Portugal and Spain and Belgium and the Netherlands.

Putin didn’t attend the ceremony, though his spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said earlier today that the prime minister would fly to Zurich if Russia’s bid were successful, RIA Novosti reported. First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov headed the Russian delegation.

“The World Cup will help us overcome all the tragic days and tragic history of the last century we have suffered,” Shuvalov said today to FIFA delegates.

Putin’s drive to bring the World Cup to Russia came after he delivered the 2014 Winter Olympics and a Formula 1 Grand Prix car race starting in 2014, both to be held in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.
Hosting the tournament is worth about $5 billion, according to U.S. estimates. For Russia, FIFA’s decision may speed infrastructure development and boost shares of airlines and steelmakers, though it could cost “tens of billions” of dollars to pull off, analysts said.