Nations prepare to duke it out for 2018, 2022 World Cup host bids

By Keir Radnedge, Special to SI.com, World Soccer

The 1994 World Cup in the U.S. is considered one of the most successful ever. Mike Hewitt/Getty Images

FIFA will decide who hosts the World Cups of 2018 and 2022 on the same day in December 2010. This is for two reasons: firstly, to give the ultimate hosts a more realistic time frame in which to undertake all the necessary preparations and, secondly, to guarantee television and sponsor revenue a long way in advance.

The original rotation system has been scrapped and replaced by the more simple structure that a continental confederation can host a World Cup only once in every three rounds. Therefore, no South American nation can enter the bidding for '18 and '22 tournaments because Brazil is host in 2014.

Very few people within the game believe that the finals will not return to Europe in 2018 for the first time since Germany '06. That leaves the rest of the world to scrap over '22.

Significant shifts may well occur before the May 2011 deadline for final documentation, depending on attitudes within FIFA to co-hosting and Olympic awards -- Chicago, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo go head-to-head in October for the '16 Games.

Europe

Belgium/Holland

Neither Belgium nor Holland is big enough to host the World Cup on its own, and the notion that sporting fair play should compel FIFA to open up the hosting market to smaller nations is the subtext of their joint bid. Belgium and Holland have co-hosting history, from Euro 2000, but claims of the format's "success" are simplistic. At least they have a unified organizing proposal, unlike the wasteful twin organization of Japan and South Korea in '02. Stadiums represent a problem and UEFA President Michel Platini has pointed to the need for a major construction program (estimated at $1.8 billion) if Belgium and Holland are to catch their European rivals.

England

England hosted the World Cup once previously, in 1966, and should be able
to present a powerful case. Lord David Triesman, independent chairman of the Football Association, has also taken on bid leadership. Chief executive is Andy Anson, the one-time Manchester United commercial director and tennis boss, while the bid team includes Lord Sebastian Coe, who has been granted a leave of absence from his role as president of FIFA's ethics commission. Wembley will be the proposed heart of a bid which can feature more modern stadiums than almost any other contender. It also represents a "safe" organizing option for the World Cup after South Africa and Brazil.

Portugal/Spain

Originally Spain opted for a single bid then, inexplicably, federation president Ángel María Villar decided to team up with neighboring Portugal. If that was an attempt to strengthen their voting hand, the strategy has backfired. FIFA President Sepp Blatter has made it clear that co-hosting is only a last resort. Spain, host previously in '82, has everything necessary to take the finals again, with ideal infrastructure and large stadiums -- including some of the most attractively iconic in world soccer. In addition to Madrid's Bernabéu, Barcelona's Camp Nou and Sevilla's Olímpico, there is also the new home being built by Atlético Madrid which could be the Olympic stadium in '16.

Russia

Russia wants to bring the World Cup to Eastern Europe for the first time. During the communist Soviet era, this would have been unthinkable. Now, however, the combination of Vladimir Putin's political leadership and the oligarch-led "new money" offers a far better prospect of improving notoriously slow administrative procedures, hotel accommodation and transport links. Perceptions of the new financial strength of Russia have been shaken by the effects of the global recession. Russia's bid may also suffer by association with the troubled fall-out of the Euro '12 co-hosting in neighboring Poland and Ukraine.