The sponsors of the upcoming Federation International de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup in 2010 are getting ready for what they anticipate will be a global groundswell of interest by bringing previously dispersed online buying venues for licensed merchandise onto a single platform, says platform vendor Delivery Agent.

The new FIFA shop, which will be found as a shopping tab on content site Fifa.com, is expected to go live later this year or early next year. It will give shoppers the option of five languages and process transactions in three currencies: U.S. dollars, British pounds and euros.

The last World Cup in 2006 drew 4 million daily visitors from more than 35 countries to Fifa.com, garnering 4.3 billion page views on the site during the tournament. FIFA is anticipating larger numbers during the 2010 tournament and is preparing to offer web visitors an expanded assortment of licensed merchandise. For the first time, the online shop will allow fans to order customized merchandise, such as a jersey from a winning team imprinted with the game’s score.

The move by Global Brands Group, FIFA’s worldwide master licensee, to integrate global FIFA merchandise sales on a single e-commerce platform dovetail with FIFA’s recent efforts to centralize news content on FIFA.com, according to Delivery Agent CEO Mike Fitzsimmons.

Formerly, notes Fitzsimmons, fans had to visit a variety of sites to find the full range of FIFA licensed merchandise-and some merchandise was not available online.