体坛英语新闻：England pull out of 2022 World Cup bidding

LONDON, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- England's World Cup bid team pulled out of the 2022 World Cup bidding on Friday after the United States stayed away from the the 2018 edition.

The United States' decision means a European nation will definitely host the World Cup in 2018 and, with FIFA rules stating the competition cannot be held on the same continent on two successive occasions, there is no chance of England staging the 2022 tournament.

The US were the last non-European bidders remaining in the race for 2018 following Australia's withdrawal in June.

Their move leaves England as one of four European bids, along with Russia and joint bids from Belgium and Netherlands and Spain and Portugal.

A statement from the England bid team read: "England 2018/22 today confirmed to FIFA that it was withdrawing its candidature from the FIFA World Cup 2022 and will now focus on its bid to host the tournament in 2018.

"This followed consultation with UEFA president Michel Platini on the most appropriate moment to withdraw.

"England 2018 is delighted it is now clear the FIFA World Cup will be coming to Europe in 2018 following the withdrawal of the United States bid."

The race for the 2022 tournament will now be between Australia, Japan, South Korea, Qatar and the United States.