England face stiff competition to host the 2018 World Cup with Fifa confirming 11 bids have been received.
Stiff competition for England's 2018 bid
England face stiff competition in the race to host the 2018 World Cup with Fifa confirming a total of 11 bids have been received.
Fifa will make a decision on who will host the 2018 and 2022 World Cups simultaneously at some stage before June 2011, with bids invited for one or both tournaments.
England are keen to host the global football showpiece for the first time since 1966, when they won the tournament with a 4-2 extra-time victory over West Germany at Wembley.
Australia, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Qatar, Russia and the United States have all made their interest official, while there are also joint bids from Belgium and Holland and Spain and Portugal.
Power
Fifa president Sepp Blatter said: "It is remarkable that so many high-quality contenders have expressed an initial interest in hosting our flagship competition.
"The current worldwide economic crisis has brought another dimension of uncertainty into the lives of many people around the world.
"Football has an extraordinary power to unite people, as well as an ability to inspire emotions of hope, passion and joy."
There was some confusion over whether Egypt had made a bid, with Fifa claiming they had expressed an interest, before withdrawing the application, but the Egyptian FA insisted that was not the case.
