With 11 countries vying for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, bid chief executive Andy Anson believes suggestions that England are clear favourites are misplaced.

Spain and Russia are strong rivals within Europe, while the USA and Australia also pose significant threats.

Anson said: "There are 11 countries ultimately bidding and they are all desperate to win.

"That makes it incredibly challenging and that's why we can't be complacent.

"Any talk about England being favourites is slightly misplaced because it's so competitive.

"I don't think we are going to be the only ones who feel really passionate about winning.

"It's going to be an incredibly tough race and that's why we have to work extra hard to make sure our messages are very clear."

The advantage of England, and to some extent the USA and Spain, is that many of the stadia are already in place and that a World Cup would be guaranteed to be a commercial success.

Anson said that England also needed to stress the fact they could roll out international development programmes as a legacy of a World Cup.

He added: "We are a very attractive commercial proposition, we have great stadiums in this country, and overseas legacy programme would have a huge impact.

"A safe pair of hands can quite often be a negative thing but to be viewed as someone who is reliable with great facilities, great infrastructure, and great stadiums is a very positive thing.

"There are challenges with the next two World Cups. FIFA have been very adventurous in going to South Africa and Brazil and I think that we have the infrastructure in place where we can deliver a World Cup much more easily."

Anson also said any repeat of the hooligan violence which erupted between West Ham and Millwall fans could damage the bid.

He said: "It was incredibly disappointing. It seemed like an isolated incident and we certainly hope it was an isolated incident.

"Obviously if there was a repeat of that incident it would be damaging, and I think everyone has realised it's not something we can let happen again.

"It has been recognised by FIFA and UEFA that England has done an awful lot to address this problem over the years."

Holland/Belgium (jointly), Qatar, Indonesia, Mexico, Japan and Korea are all bidding for one or either of the tournaments.