Beckham promises passion for World Cup in England

If England is selected to host the contest, games could be played at two stadiums in Yorkshire – Leeds United's Elland Road ground and Hillsborough, home of Sheffield Wednesday.

At a ceremony at FIFA headquarters in Zurich, the former Manchester United and Real Madrid midfielder spoke of the "passion and emotion" England could bring to the tournament.

Beckham said: "I'm here on behalf of our fans. Football runs through our veins. On behalf of our team, the delegation and our fans, we present you with our bid book."

In thanking the English delegation – second among the nine candidates to present their dossiers – FIFA president Sepp Blatter referred to England as the "motherland" of football and disclosed he had already spoken to Prime Minister David Cameron, who had personally endorsed the bid.

England must now wait until December 2 to discover if the bid has been successful. Its main rivals are thought to be Russia, Australia and a joint bid from Spain and Portugal.

If the contest is hosted here, 12 of the potential 17 named grounds – which include Elland Road and Hillsborough – will be used for World Cup games.

Sheffield and Leeds will be expected to make contributions of about 15m each to the cost of the bid, but both cities could reap financial benefits of up to 350m from tens of thousands of fans visiting and staying.

Both stadiums will also have to be expanded to meet the minimum 40,000 capacity.