Beckenbauer boost for England bid

Former World Cup winner Franz Beckenbauer believes England would be fit to host the World Cup "tomorrow" because of its stadiums and fans.

The ex-West Germany skipper sits on the Fifa committee that will decide the 2018 and 2022 World Cup hosts.

He stopped short of endorsing England's World Cup bid admitted he would like Europe to host the tournament in 2018.

"As a Uefa member, I would like to see it in Europe but it is an open race," he told Australia's Sun-Herald.

England is one of nine countries to have bid to host the World Cup in 2018 and one of 11 to have bid for 2022.

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"England could host it tomorrow because they have the stadiums, the infrastructure, the fans, everything," Beckenbauer said. "But there are a lot of other different countries bidding. Let's wait and see."

Fifa will name the successful bidders in December 2010 but bids from the same continent as the chosen host for 2018 would be ineligible for 2022.

Given that the 2010 World Cup will be held in South Africa and the 2014 tournament in Brazil, Beckenbauer said Europe should be next.

"It's (the decision) too far away, it's more than one year to go," he said. "(But) It will be Europe's turn.

Beckenbauer went on to say that Australia's chances to host the World Cup in 2022 could be strong if 2018 went to Europe.

"I think they have a good chance because the World Cup has never been to Australia," he said. "Australia's a beautiful country, a beautiful continent."

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