World Cup 2018: U.S.-Bound?

Chancellor Gordon Brown, the UK's Prime Minister in waiting with a general election on the horizon, announced last week that England would bid to host the 2018 World Cup. Forgive our cynicism, but even the most ardent soccer fans in this country didn't need the CSI: Miami team to deduce that this might, in some way ... just perhaps ... be a thinly-veiled piece of political propaganda.

They say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, but here in England, soccer comes a long way before soufflé. No matter how strongly Brown's timing of the announcement reeked of sports playing whore to the political monster, if he could make it happen we could probably forgive Labour for everything bar Iraq and put them back into office with a failing health service and a Scot at the helm. After all, it's already been over 50 years since England welcomed Pele, Eusebio, and Beckenbauer in 1966.

To the Chancellor's embarrassment, however, Sepp Blatter, head of FIFA, flew into London last week to crush English hopes as swiftly as they had been raised.

"If the FIFA executive committee decides later this year that the rotation policy is maintained in strict procedure, it should be in North America in 2018 and there are three countries who could host it there — the United States, Mexico, and Canada," said Blatter.

Blatter's rotation policy, which was designed to ensure African nations had the opportunity to host the event (and to garner the international votes that put him in office), is officially set to end in 2014, but it now seems likely to continue. In 2010, the World Cup will be in South Africa and 2014 will visit South America, in the form of Brazil or Columbia.

With Canada an unfashionable and unproven soccer nation, it seems unlikely they would be chosen to host the 21st World Cup in 2018 unless some kind of sporting revolution takes place. Mexico, who hosted the 1986 tournament, will face obvious economic difficulties funding a bid, let alone updating their stadia and infrastructure if it were successful.

All of this points towards to the U.S., who hosted the 1994 event and earned global praise. Sunil Gulati, President of the U.S. Soccer Federation said, "We would be in position to put on a spectacular event. We are much more a part of the sport internationally than we were in 1994."

U.S. soccer fans may not even have to wait until then. As doubts have been cast over both Brazil and Columbia, Blatter has indicated that the U.S. would be the obvious choice as a backup venue in seven years time.

"We have said that the 2014 World Cup will be staged in South America, but if there is no candidate strong enough, then we would go north instead as the logical thing," he said.

FIFA officials will make the decision for 2014, along with the future of the rotation policy, this November in Durban, South Africa. If the U.S. is chosen to host the tournament, it is thought the 2018 World Cup could become open to nations from Asia and Europe — opening the door once more to England.

Other nations interested in 2018 include Australia, deemed part of Asia on planet football, and China, for whom money is unlikely to be an object.

From an American perspective, the future looks bright. FIFA is keen to grow the sport in the U.S. and its infrastructure and stadia are already equipped to host the event. With David Beckham rumored to be at the marketing forefront of any potential campaign, U.S. soccer fans seem destined to have the world's greatest sporting event on their doorstep sooner rather than later.