• World Cup 2018

Doomed England bid only received two first-round votes

Sepp Blatter confirmed that Russia had won the right to host the 2018 World Cup © Getty Images

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England's failed bid to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup fell at the first hurdle after they only picked up two votes from the first round of voting.

Earlier reports claimed England's bid, led by the likes of Prince William and David Beckham, had secured four votes but it has now been confirmed that they only received the backing from two delegates and, consequently, went out in the first round.

As the fallout continues, questions remain as to why England's promising bid failed to win more votes, with Russia being awarded the rights to host the 2018 World Cup.

In the last couple of months, corruption investigations into FIFA members by Panorama and the Sunday Times were thought to have derailed England's bid, but a strong finish from the bidding team had made England the favourites before the 22 delegates began voting.

Sir Dave, an FA Executive Committee member and chairman of both Team England and the Premier League, told ESPNsoccernet soon after he heard the news from Zurich: "It is a real shame that the greatest nation in world football cannot host the World Cup. Why? I don't really know.

"[There are] Lots of reasons, you can say the media, but there is always someone else, others to blame.

"But perhaps it's time for change, the way FIFA decide such important issues like this, the most important of them all. If anything good comes from it, it will be the call for change."

Sir Dave knows that many of the English game's figureheads and legends will not be alive by the time England get the chance to host a World Cup again.

"The earliest will be 2030 and none of us will be around," he said. "None of the boys of '66, and who knows what FIFA will be like then, what the FA will be like or whether the FA would want to bid again for the World Cup. So who knows when we will ever get the World Cup back here, if at all."

To add insult to injury, FIFA have offically revealed that England were eliminated in the first round of voting, with just two votes in their favour, one of which was from English board member Geoff Thompson.

"[It is] Terrible," Sir Dave added. "How big a blow is this for football in our country? I will have to think long and hard about that question."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.