2018/2022 World Cup Race Takes Shape: England Leads, Australia Pushing Hard

(WFI) With 300 days until the FIFA Executive Committee decision on the hosts of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, the first edition of the World Football Insider Bid Power Index shows the relative strengths and weaknesses of the 10 bids.

England takes the early lead in the first edition of the WFI Bid Power Index. Russia is the nearest European challenger, but Australia is closer still and is the country to watch in the coming months as the race heads to a finish in December.

Across 10 categories, England scores 64 out of 100 possible points. Australia follows with 62, with Russia and Qatar tied on 61 and the US on 60.

Notching sub-60 scores are the joint bids from Holland-Belgium and Spain-Portugal, while Japan and Korea are also off the pace. Indonesia lags well behind due to a plethora of issues and lingering doubts whether it can stay the course of the bid race....

With reporting from Mark Bisson