Dutch and Belgians join forces to bid for World Cup

The Dutch and Belgian football associations have agreed to establish a joint foundation to prepare their bid to co-host the 2018 World Cup finals. A total of 11 cities in Belgium and the Netherlands have said they could host the matches, the KNVB (Dutch Football Association) said in a statement yesterday.

The decision comes 12 months after the Dutch and Belgian governments formally told the world governing body, Fifa, that they wanted to host the tournament. The two countries also jointly hosted Euro 2000. Several nations, including the United States, Mexico, England, Spain, China and Australia, have also expressed interest in hosting the 2018 finals.

South Africa will host the 2010 tournament, while Brazil will stage the event in 2014. Last month, Fifa's executive committee postponed until December a decision on whether to run the bidding process for 2018 and 2022 simultaneously. Fifa's decision last year to end a short-lived rotation policy opened up 2018 to more bids.

A flying start to their World Cup qualifying campaign has seen England return to the top 10 in the Fifa world rankings. Fabio Capello's men have won all four of their matches in qualifying Group Six, and as a result climb four places up the rankings to move level with Portugal in joint 10th.

The European champions Spain remain top thanks to their 100 per cent record in qualifying Group Five, while Germany climb to second at the expense of Italy. The Netherlands, Brazil, Argentina, Croatia, Russia and Czech Republic complete the top 10.

Scotland drop seven places to 33rd – three places above the Republic of Ireland, who move up two spots. Northern Ireland also slide seven places to 42nd, while Wales slip one to 62nd.