Spain and Portugal for 2018

Spain and Portugal are preparing a joint bid to host the 2018 World Cup. The Iberian countries are ready to host the tournament and will be competing with the likes of England and Brazil for the right to host the tournament.

Senior UEFA sources have confirmed that a joint bid is now certain, after FIFA president Sepp Blatter said recently he was happy with two countries joining together as long as there was only a single World Cup organising committee. It means England, Russia, Australia, Holland and Belgium (jointly), China, Japan, USA, Canada, Mexico and now Spain/Portugal have either said they will be bidding for 2018 or are considering doing so.

Richard Caborn, the Government’s World Cup bid ambassador, said: ‘It is still unclear who we will face from Europe. But one thing is clear: we have got to win the European vote. My view is that we respect everybody but fear no one.’