First promised for release in the summer and then pencilled in for a November arrival, the long-delayed but massively anticipated Xbox Live iteration of Sensible World of Soccer will finally be with us on December 19th.

The news comes from the Codemasters forums, where it has previously been stated that the publisher has been waiting on Microsoft certification before the game could hit the platform holder’s Xbox Live Arcade network.

Based on the 96/97 version of the hit franchise, Codemasters recruited some of the original team members to work on the title and used as much of the original Amiga code as possible in an effort to retain the game’s original compelling gameplay. It will also allow you to play online.