Aus2018.com

The race to host the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cup finals has moved up a gear with FIFA to officially announce the list of contenders later this week.

The number of potential bids now stands at 12 (10 individual and 2 joint):

Individual Bids: Australia, Indonesia, Japan, Qatar, South Korea, Egypt (2022 only), Mexico, USA, Russia and England

Joint Bids: Netherlands/Belgium and Spain/Portugal

Points of note:

• CONMEBOL member associations are ineligible to host either due to FIFA's rotation policy (Brazil will host 2014)
• African member associations are ineligible for 2018 (south Africa hosting 2010)
• Joint bids are unlikely to succeed. Whilst not against FIFA guidelines, FIFA President Sepp Blatter has indicated his preference for individual bids.
• Blatter has previously stated his support for Australia to host the finals (although he has been known to change his mind in the past... remember 1 full spot in the FIFA World Cup finals for Oceania?)
• 2018 and 2022 host nations will both be announced in December 2010
• No continent can win both meaning if the 2018 finals are awarded to Europe, the 2022 must be awarded to another confederation
• The Asian Football Confederation has indicated a preference for one strong candidate rather than several bids potentially competing for votes. Currently 5 have expressed interest (Australia, Indonesia, Japan, Qatar, South Korea