IANS/DPA

New York, Jan 13: US football officials Tuesday named the 18 cities it has chosen to host games in its bid for the 2018 World Cup.

Sunil Gulati, the chairman of the USA Bid Committee and president of US Soccer, said that all the stadiums included in the proposal had already been constructed, providing an average capacity of 78,000 seats and over 5 million tickets throughout the tournament - "bigger than anyone else can hope to get."

"We are not building any new stadiums," he told a press conference at New York's Time Square. "In these extraordinary economic times the ability to announce the 18 venues without the need for public funds on infrastructure or stadiums gives us a great start."

The 18 cities are spread over the entire country and include New York, Washington, Los Angeles and Boston. In the south the US is proposing games be held in Atlanta, Nashville, Miami and Tampa. Texas will be represented by Dallas and Houston, while Phoenix, San Diego, Denver and Seattle also made the cut. Rounding out the selection were Indianapolis, Kansas City, Baltimore and Philadelphia.

The US Bid Committee will present its bid book to FIFA by May 14 with a decision on both the 2018 and 2022 World Cups expected in early December.

Vying with the US for 2018 are England, Japan, Russia, Australia and joint bids by Spain and Portugal, and Belgium and Holland. For the 2022 bid Indonesia, Qatar and South Korea will join those countries.

"The United States is equipped and ready to offer FIFA the opportunity to host a passionate and successful World Cup where fans, teams, partners and media can experience the beautiful game at its highest level, while allowing the world soccer family to focus on the utmost mission of the game that benefits the world as a whole," said Gulati.