England secured only two votes and were knocked out of the bidding for the 2018 World Cup in the first round, Fifa have confirmed
England bid eliminated in first round
England secured only two votes and were knocked out of the bidding for the 2018 World Cup in the first round, Fifa have confirmed.
England saw their World Cup dreams ended after Fifa announced Russia would host the finals in 2018 to stage the event for the first time.
Russia saw off bids from England, Spain-Portugal and Netherlands-Belgium to win the secret ballot of Fifa's 22 members.
England's bid team were thought to have impressed Fifa's executives with their presentation on Thursday, with Fifa president Sepp Blatter describing it as "excellent and remarkable" following the final presentation.
However, it has now emerged their bid fell at the first hurdle.
Fifa have confirmed the bid received only two votes and was eliminated from the process at the first round.
Figures
Fifa have released the voting figures which showed England won only one other vote apart from Britain's Fifa vice-president Geoff Thompson.
In the first round Holland/Belgium secured four, Spain/Portugal seven and Russia nine.
Russia then won an outright majority in the second round of voting.
In the 2022 contest, Qatar beat the USA in the final round of voting.
The news of England's bid only receiving two votes is sure to spark a massive inquest into the how the voting is carried out by the Fifa executives.
