In just over a year’s time, Fifa will make a decision that will touch a whole generation of football fans. The challenge for the next 13 months is to convince 24 Fifa Executive Committee members that England will be the perfect host of the World Cup in 2018.

England is passionate about football, it is in our DNA. Thirty million people attend matches every year. Six million play football every week, almost a million of them female. Four hundred thousand people volunteer to run local teams, leagues, or drive the team bus just to help out.

These fans come from all parts of our multicultural society. It is this diversity that will make England capable of offering an enthusiastic and knowledgeable home-from-home welcome to all visiting country’s teams and fans. We are uniquely positioned to welcome the world to our doorstep.

We are determined to ensure that this diversity is fully represented and that all parts of our society feel fully involved in bringing the World Cup to England. That is why we announced an Inclusivity Advisory Group this week. The panel’s 11 members will represent the views of every element of English society and provide a voice for all, irrespective of gender, race, sexual orientation or disability. It is a significant piece of the jigsaw.

A World Cup here would be hugely successful. Our initial economic impact study shows a potential boost to GDP of £3.2 billion and ours is the perfect time zone to produce high-value television rights and commercial partnerships. Revenues from a World Cup tournament enable Fifa to use football as a platform for educational and social development right across the globe so the ability to maximise commercial opportunities is vital.

England has the infrastructure and knowhow to run world-class events. This country has some of the most iconic football stadiums in the world. We are fortunate that our stadiums are purpose built for football, but there are 21 technical areas to be addressed and regional facilities relating to transportation, training camps, fan parks and accommodation are under scrutiny. Sixteen cities are involved in a competitive process to determine which will be in our final submission to Fifa. We will announce which of those cities have been successful later this year and I have no doubt that our final submission in May will be world class.

Most importantly, we have a vision for how a World Cup could benefit football around the world. English football has been committed to working alongside Fifa on the global development of the game for many years. This is not a subject we are addressing purely because of the bid.

The FA’s International Development Programme has been in place for a decade and focuses on sporting, educational and world health issues that have benefited areas such as Fiji, Solomon Islands, Lesotho, Malawi and Botswana. The Premier League’s Premier Skills initiative is another of many examples of English football’s commitment to social and football development around the world. Our intention is to build on this unique expertise to produce a World Cup that delivers a lasting, global legacy.

Any project so keenly in the public eye will always attract scrutiny and this bid is certainly no different. There have been — and will be — issues to confront and the competition is strong but we are confident our strategy timetable and focus are right for bringing sport’s ultimate prize to England.