The fight for the right to host the 2018 World Cup finals is not just a battle between England, Spain, Australia, Russia and the rest. It is local as well as global: Hull against Leicester, Birmingham against Bristol.

While the England bid group plots its international strategy and circles the world to woo Fifa’s power brokers, 15 cities are sparring for the chance to be on the country’s list of venues and the selection process begins in earnest today as inspection teams start visiting the contenders. It is an early chance to impress. Two “technical teams” from the FA’s 2018 organisation will spend much of the month on location, returning for another look in September.

Two months after that, the bid team will pick between 12 and 18 venues to form part of England’s submission. That will be sent to Fifa in May next year and the world governing body will take the big decision in December.

The 2018 group wants prospective host cities to be creative in showing how they can add value to the bid, as well as proving they can conform to Fifa’s demanding requirements on topics such as stadium capacity, security, communications, hospitality facilities and fan parks. For Bristol and Portsmouth, that means convincing the assessors that promised new stadiums are not simply pipe dreams.

Each city must also offer four locations for potential training grounds and base camps and there are ancillary events to vie for, such as the draw for the Confederations Cup and various Fifa junkets.

With an influx of visitors and global media attention guaranteed, the economic benefits are obvious. There is cautious optimism in Sheffield, although it faces competition from nearby Leeds, Hull, Derby, Nottingham and Leicester.

Sheffield will highlight its transport and tourism infrastructure, sports facilities and competition experience. Sheffield, England’s fourth-largest city, has hosted more than 500 national and international sports events in the past decade, has good road and rail links and 4,000 hotel rooms.

“One of the angles we are pushing is that it’s a safe, welcoming city that’s got sport and very much football at its heart. It’s in the DNA of the city,” Wayne Coyle, Sheffield’s bid director, said. The city has a rich football heritage — as well as the two Coca-Cola Championship clubs, Sheffield FC are the world’s oldest club. However, as the England bid is desperate to avoid appearing complacent or entitled because of the country’s role in developing the game, Sheffield’s history is an asset to be handled with care.

“There’s a massive enthusiasm for football here, everybody is up for this,” Jason Rockett, the Sheffield United chief executive, said. Across town, they agree. “Every week there’s a world-championship level event happening in Sheffield, it’s the busiest sporting city in the world. We call ourselves the biggest village in the country, there is a good community and being a World Cup host city would be huge,” Lee Strafford, the Sheffield Wednesday chairman, said.

Neither club’s home meets Fifa criteria, but Sheffield United are investing in the hospitality facilities at Bramall Lane and plan to increase the capacity to 44,000, 4,000 above Fifa’s minimum, while it would cost a manageable £6 million or so to upgrade Hillsborough. But which of the stadiums will Sheffield put forward?

Milton Keynes seems a long shot given the city’s lack of football tradition, but Pete Winkelman, the chairman of Milton Keynes Dons, disagrees. “I don’t think we are outsiders. That’s not to say we haven’t got to do an enormous amount to achieve it, but we’re hugely serious,” he said.

“By 2018, Milton Keynes will probably be one of the top 12 cities in the country in terms of population and economic clout, we’ve got a brilliant track record for delivery — stadium:mk is one of the best stadiums in the country — so the FA will understand that if we go for it, we’ll be able to make it real. I would doubt that many cities would be able to put together as formidable a \ team as we will.” Let the beauty contest begin.

The contenders Birmingham, Bristol, Derby, Hull, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Milton Keynes, Newcastle-Gateshead, Nottingham, Portsmouth, Sheffield, Sunderland

The dates

Last week Submission of outline bids

This month First inspections of prospective host cities

September Second round of inspections

November Bid deadline for cities December 12-18 venues are chosen for England’s Bid Book

May 2010 Deadline for submissions to Fifa

December 2010 Fifa announces winning host country