Beckham confident of winning toughest battle yet

Fifa's 22-man executive committee will decide at 3pm which of England, Russia and the joint bids of Spain/Portugal and Holland/Belgium has won the right to host the biggest football tournament on the planet in eight years time.

The England international has been part of the three-man attack with Prince William and prime minister David Cameron – dubbed the 'Three Lions' – at the head of a massive lobbying effort on the part of the nation's 2018 bidding team to bring the World Cup to England.

England have the chance at 10am to give one final 30-minute presentation to the sport's governing body in an attempt to secure the majority 12 votes they need.

"I have had a few (challenges) throughout my career," said the former Manchester United and Real Madrid winger who has played in three World Cups.

"It is another one of those things where, when you represent your country, you give everything you have.

"I have obviously done that on the field a few times and now I am trying to do it off the field.

"Through my career I know how important it is to keep fighting until the last minute.

"A lot of the biggest games I have played in have gone to the last minutes and we will be working day and night to bring it to us."

As one of England's most recognisable ambassadors Beckham also continued smoothing relations with Fifa following the investigations by the Sunday Times and the BBC's Panorama programme over alleged corruption in football's corridors of power.

Fears remain that the timing of the Panorama investigation has been unhelpful, with former Sheffield MP and sports minister Richard Caborn yesterday saying it left the bid team very little time to repair any damage.

But Beckham said: "We can trust every one of the members. At the end of the day they are football people.

"They are going to want a World Cup in the best country that they think could host the biggest sporting event in the world."

Caborn, who worked on the 2018 bid as an ambassador for Gordon Brown and helped the London 2012 team secure the next summer Olympics, told the Yorkshire Post: "The criticisms weren't centred on the right to show the programme, it was the timing that was less helpful.

"It gave the team very little time to repair any damage.

"The team has gone out there and done a great job on the back of the investigations, which was not easy.

"Look at what we did in Singapore (London 2012), working the contacts as hard as we could in the hope that you get the message across. They'll be doing exactly that in the final hours today.

"It really is down to the politics of it all, but I do genuinely believe England's bid is the best technically."

There is widespread belief that England does indeed have the technical edge with Russia's bid falling down on the logistics of staging a World Cup in a country so vast, and the joint bids of the western European nations deemed not independently strong enough.

But any advantage gained by England is offset by the concerns over media intrusion, and the fact that Spain/Portugal could potentially have up to eight votes locked down by Fifa's Latin America delegates and that staging the tournament Russia offers a greater legacy to be created.

Caborn believes legacy could be the ace up England's sleeve, while Lord Sebastian Coe feels it is Beckham who could prove the winning hand.

The England international has got his hands dirty with behind-closed-doors lobbying, but it is his work in front of the camera that Coe – who used Beckham and Caborn for the London 2012 bid – believes is his and the bid's biggest asset.

"He is a huge card," said Lord Coe. "Why do you think we took him to Singapore?

"He knows how to play on these occasions. He does it really, really well and, certainly in football, he is speaking to the family.

"When you have the future king of England, the prime minister and the iconic face of British sport all presenting a bid, then you are actually in very good shape to start with. You need to make sure the messages are clear and they are landed. You want to make sure that everybody gives an Oscar performance in the presentation."

Prince William was meeting delegates at 7am yesterday while the prime minister broke off only to jet back to London for PM's question time.

They will join Beckham in a 23-man party who will this morning attempt one last time to convince Fifa that England deserve the right to host the 2018 World Cup.