England, Australia and Japan are among a number of countries that have officially declared their interest in hosting the 2018 World Cup.

FIFA, the international football federation, has set a deadline of 2 February for all declarations of interest to be received, and more than 10 countries have entered the race, including joint bids from Spain/Portugal, and Holland/Belgium. The host of the 1994 tournament, United States, has also expressed its interest in hosting the 2018 World Cup, as have South Korea, Qatar, Mexico and Indonesia.

Andy Anson, the chief executive of the English Football Association's (FA) bid, said: "Our intentions have obviously been well known for some time but there's a real sense of significance and excitement in the fact that we're now acknowledged as an official bidding nation. "We believe we have a very strong case to bring the tournament to England and the challenge now is to put together a compelling presentation to showcase to the world."

Meanwhile, the chair of Football Federation Australia (FFA), Frank Lowy, said: "As a nation, sport has provided some of our most compelling and defining national memories. "We believe this is a passion and commitment that can be shared with the world, and it would form part of a living and lasting legacy to the world from Australia.

The Japanese Football Association (JFA), which co-hosted the event in 2002, has revealed that in order to provide a large-capacity stadium, it will be supporting Tokyo's bid to host the 2016 Olympic Games. Motoaki Inukai, JFA president, said: "The success of the Tokyo Olympic bid is vital to us to resolve the stadium issue. "We'll do everything we can to help them be successful in their bid."

A decision on which nation will host the 2018 World Cup, will be made in December 2010, as well as the 2022 tournament.