Winning Eleven 9 takes on America

At Konami's press event today in San Francisco, the publisher showed off several previously announced games, shifted some shipping details, and trotted out some new game information.

However, once journalists were all seated in the Fort Mason Center, a Konami rep did pique interest by announcing that one of the most popular soccer franchises is returning to the States.

World Soccer Winning Eleven 9, which was released in Japan earlier this month and sold more than half a million copies in its first seven days in retail, will be released in North America in winter 2006. The latest edition of the popular soccer franchise will be released on the PlayStation 2, Xbox, PC, and PSP.

The list of teams has expanded this year and includes clubs in the Italian Serie A, Spanish La Liga, and Dutch Eredivisie leagues, as well as new squads Chelsea, Arsenal, Rangers, Celtic, FC Kopenhagen, Dynamo Kiev, and more.

The latest serving of W11 lets gamers play friendlies online. The full roster of Master League teams will be available, and players can set up tournaments or simply play head-to-head.

World Soccer Winning Eleven 9 has not yet been rated or priced.