Speaking to the National Press Club just a day after the bid was officially launched, Lowy, the man largely credited for rescuing the round-ball code in Australia, said a successful bid would fulfil the Australian football community's wildest dreams.

"We enter the battle confidently, and we enter it to win; but we enter it mindful that we will need to wrest every vote from very powerful, well qualified nations whose ambition to host the World Cup is every bit as fierce as ours," Lowy said.

"But even the worst outcome - failing to win either - unthinkable though it is, would still leave a legacy that makes embarking on this journey worthwhile: certainly for the game of football in Australia, but also for the wider community."

Lowy said that those in support of the bid had to be ready to answer those who believed it was not in Australia of the World Cup's best interests to stage the tournament Down Under.

"There are some who say we are small fry in world football; that Australia is too far away; that the 2018 World Cup must return to Europe after South Africa next year and Brazil in 2014," he said.

"There are some who say that the tremendous resources and energy required to mount the campaign is a distraction from more urgent tasks at home. That we should focus instead on developing the grassroots, and nurturing the new national A-League competition and so on."

"These are all valid points, and believe me we have weighed them carefully. And I have an answer to each of them."

"But the short answer to all the questions about why we should be bidding for the World Cup now is the same answer I gave a few years ago to the naysayers who said football was destined to remain the laughing stock of Australian sport."

Lowy is unwavering in his belief in the future of the game in Australia and in the importance of Australia being on the front foot in its approach to its future.

"Quite simply, it was time for football in Australia to lift up its head and start thinking and behaving as though it was part of the world game. Boldness was called for," he said.

"Not arrogance, because arrogance in sport, as in most walks of life, is ultimately self-defeating. But football needed to be bold, to demonstrate a bit of flair and optimism and belief in itself."

"There were certainly good reasons why Australian football had languished for so long, but there was no good reason why it should languish forever."