Chief executive Peter Storrie wants the city to be at the forefront of the FA's ambitious bid.

Hopes of England hosting the event have been raised after FIFA ended their controversial rotation policy earlier this week.

Bids need to be officially submitted by 2009, with FIFA's executive committee due to make a decision in October 2011.

The host nation will be unveiled a matter of months after the completion of exciting plans for Pompey to relocate at Horsea Island.

The Blues' new home will possess a minimum of 36,000 seats and state-of-the-art facilities to rival any footballing venue in the country.

And Storrie is convinced it will hold up favourably, competing with the likes of Old Trafford, St James' Park, the Stadium of Light and Upton Park for a piece of the international action.

He said: 'At the moment there is a lot that needs clarifying but we will be asking the question.

'We will have a chat with the FA to see what criteria and minimum capacity they are looking for from prospective football grounds.

'As I understand it, they are going to need 10 stadiums and quite clearly we will want to be part of that. The Horsea Island ground would be perfect.

'There are a lot of people feeling confident England can get the 2018 World Cup but the formal application is not for a long while yet.

'Until that goes in, it's a bit of a guess situation what the criteria for the grounds is going to be.

'It's no good saying it's going to be 40,000 and it turns out to be 50,000. We just have to wait for a while to see what is going to happen.

'But if the FA are going to have a World Cup venue in the south we will definitely be putting ourselves forward.'

When England hosted the European Championships in 1996, Nottingham Forest's City Ground was chosen as a venue, despite having a capacity of just over 30,000.

In the near future, Storrie is eager to bring international football to Fratton Park with the England under-21s.

Fratton Park staged an England Ladies tie against Denmark in February 2004 amid great success.

Storrie said: 'There was not a chance in hell before but after all the work on the ground, that could well change.

'England under-21 matches normally attract 15,000-20,000 and a full Fratton Park would provide a great atmosphere.

'We'll go for it.'