Chuck Blazer, the American member of FIFA's 24-man ruling body and treasurer of the CONCACAF federation of countries from north and central America and the Caribbean, is frank about what went so badly wrong when England bid for the 2006 tournament and ended up with egg on their faces.

 

"Europe had already taken a decision which had seven out of eight votes going to Germany," said Blazer, referring to the controversy over England's decision to break their gentleman's agreement with Germany not to bid for 2006.

 

Blazer said that at the same time it would be dangerous for England to rely solely on support from Europe.

 

"If it was only Europe involved then the rest of Europe might turn against you," he warned.

 

There will be other European challengers, with Russia perhaps the biggest rivals for England. Holland and Belgium are considering a joint approach but FIFA have tried to discourage such bids after the 2002 tournament in Korea and Japan led to increased cost and bureaucracy.

 

The four African members of FIFA's executive committee will be particularly valuable supporters for any bid, especially in the first round of voting, as they will not have any contender from their own continent to support.

 

That will be even more the case if they decide to vote as a bloc, though that is not so likely to be the case as with the three members of the CONCACAF federation, Blazer, Jack Warner and Rafael Salguero.

 

Blazer admits that the trio usually discuss who to cast their votes for as it enables their confederation to have more influence - indeed they were among the few members to vote for England for 2006 in the first round before realising they were backing a loser.

 

CONCACAF are bound to have their rival candidate too however - probably the USA but maybe Mexico or Canada.

 

The USA, like England, have some excellent stadia already but are fairly recent hosts having had the finals in 1994.

 

England's stadia may be the envy of the world but a bid for 2018 would create some logistical problems in that they are concentrated in particular pockets of the country: London, the North-West and the North-East.

 

Wembley, of course, would be the venue for the final but there is a danger of the other matches being concentrated in the north of the country and in London.

 

For example, Old Trafford, the City of Manchester Stadium, and the new stadiums planned by Liverpool and Everton would all be less than 40 miles apart.

 

FIFA would expect stadia to have minimum capacity of 40,000, as they did for the finals in Germany in 2006, and currently Villa Park is the only ground that large between London and Manchester or Leeds, although Nottingham City Council are considering a new 50,000-seater stadium.

 

In the south of England, only stadia in London would reach the 40,000-mark because Southampton's St Mary's Stadium is 32,689 and even Portsmouth's proposed new ground would be only 36,000.

 

The FA are meeting on Wednesday to decide their next step and are expected to commission a feasibility study to examine the likelihood of their winning the race for 2018, the positive effects on the sport in the country as well as any potential pitfalls.

 

A campaign is likely to cost up to £15 million - less than half the cost of London's bid for the 2012 Olympics which came in at £35 million.