England had the best technical bid, the best economic report and the best presentation - as testified by FIFA president Sepp Blatter himself - but that counted for absolutely nothing as FIFA members broke promises about support according to England bid officials.

Russia triumphed in the 2018 race and Qatar in the 2022 contest - the two bids with the biggest financial clout were ones who persuaded the FIFA members to support them.

Their reasons for doing so may be many and varied - at best they were to do with repaying favours and political machinations, at worst - as alleged by the Sunday Times - the members were looking for more lucrative benefits. England did not, or could not, enter into any such deals.

Two votes, half the number mustered by Holland/Belgium who were expected to be the whipping boys, led to a first-round exit and then Russia triumphed over Spain/Portugal whose deal with Qatar held up through the rounds.

An indication of how far removed England 2018 were from the process is that there is no certainty about who that other vote was from.

England's £15million bid budget, those hundreds of development projects, the England friendlies, the trips to Trinidad, the lobbying of Jack Warner via Prince William, David Cameron and David Beckham all counted for nothing.

Warner's vote was pivotal as he carried two others with him from the CONCACAF federation of countries from north and central America and the Caribbean.

They were looking for the route that would guarantee the USA the 2022 tournament and, as is obvious by the voting, chose Russia. The reason: England could only deliver one single bid in return.

Much was made of the impact of the Sunday Times and BBC Panorama investigations into FIFA members, and while they certainly did not help the England bid they probably did little more than provide a convenient excuse not to vote for the bid.

Blatter did mention the media investigations to the other executive members at their meeting yesterday but only in passing.

Chuck Blazer, the USA FIFA member, told Press Association Sport: "It didn't create a positive environment for the England bid but it's difficult to get into the minds of other people and know if it really was a factor."

Scrutiny may now focus on FIFA and the structure of the whole World Cup voting system - though more due to Qatar's 2022 win than Russia's - because this was a disastrous outcome for the public image of the game's world governing body.

Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore suggested that there is no point in countries such as England bidding if FIFA insist on going to new territories where barely one suitable stadium exists.

London mayor Boris Johnson went even further, with the devastating final assessment: "FIFA can't last in its' current form."