England are believed to be ready to pull their bid for the hosting rights of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Reports suggest that England will withdraw their 2022 bid and focus solely on the 2018 tournament if the USA decide to pull out of 2018.

At present, England are competing with Australia, Japan, South Korea, USA and Qatar for the 2022 event but may drop out of the running if competition for the 2018 tournament gets slightly easier.

"We are sure it won't be long before the United States will withdraw from 2018 leaving themselves a run on 2022," said David Dein, the international president of England's bid.

"We are not really interested in 2022, consequently we will almost certainly withdraw from 2022, leaving us with a European battle."

England not being a part of the 2022 bid means Australia's chances may be boosted as the tournament will certainly go towards Asia or elsewhere and not Europe.