Fifa has dropped its policy of rotating the World
Cup between continents, opening the way for England to bid to stage the
tournament in 2018.
The Football Association said the news was "very encouraging" and said there
was a strong case for England to bid.
Chief executive Brian Barwick said: "It is exactly what we were hoping for
and we will now discuss a timetable for a potential bid."
Prime Minister Gordon Brown said an FA bid would have full government support.
"I am delighted that Fifa have opened the door for the World Cup to come back
to England," he said. "By 2018, it will be 52 years since England hosted the
World Cup.
"The nation which gave football to the world deserves to have the
greatest tournament back on these shores.
"With the Olympics in 2012, possibly the Commonwealth Games in 2014, the
Rugby World Cup in 2015 and the Cricket World Cup in 2019, a Football World Cup
in 2018 would crown what I believe can be the greatest decade ever for British
sport.
"If The FA decide to go ahead and bid for the tournament, they know they will
have the full support of the government behind them, and we will make it our
mission to persuade other countries to back us in bringing the World Cup back to
England."
England would face tough competition as a number of other strong contenders
are expected, including China and Russia.
Countries belonging to confederations that hosted the two preceding
tournaments are barred from applying.
For 2018, that would rule out bids from Africa or South America, with South
Africa hosting the tournament in 2010 and Brazil poised to be confirmed as 2014
hosts this week.
Barwick added: "We have already received tremendous support from Prime
Minister Gordon Brown and the government, and we all recognise the importance of
government support in any bidding process.
"We realise there will be strong competition involved in any bidding process,
but we know that England has fantastic stadiums, a unique tradition and passion
for the game and also a very strong infrastructure already in place.
"If we do bid, and England is awarded the 2018 World Cup, I'm sure it would
be brilliant for English football and the whole country."
BBC Radio 5 Live's sports news correspondent Gordon Farquhar said Fifa
thought it had made a "tactical mistake" in its rotation policy in that the
continents were deciding internally who their candidates should be.
"It worked OK for Africa because there was competition but for South America,
they all stood squarely behind Brazil and that was the only candidate put
forward.
"I think there's a concern that when you do that you don't get the best
possible outcome because you don't have candidates competing against one another."
With four continental bodies able to bid for 2018 (Asia, Oceania, Concacaf
and Europe) Farquhar believes there will be a 2018 bid from Australia.
"Who knows, there is the prospect of the US or even Canada, Jamaica or Mexico
coming forward from Concacaf," he added.
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