NEW YORK, Dec. 15 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. bid committee aiming to host the World Cup in 2018 or 2022 had its first board meeting on Tuesday, with the participation of famous footballer Mia Hamm, former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and comedian Drew Carey.

    Sunil Gulati, U.S. Soccer Federation president was also at the three-hour session held at Major League Soccer's offices. And U.S. coach Bob Bradley, who was not on the board, sat in.

    FIFA will choose the 2018 and 2022 hosts next December.

    The U.S. will propose 12-to-18 host cities in its bid book, which is due to FIFA by May. Thirty-two stadiums are under consideration for what would be the second World Cup in the U.S., the first was held in 1994.

    "We were really gathering everybody to focus their attention onthe upcoming year, which I would say is the campaign phase of the bid," executive director David Downs said in a telephone interview.

    "When all is said and done, the mission is to get as many of the 24 votes we can get. And we were trying to strategize plans and make the best use of our folks."

    England, Netherlands-Belgium, Russia, Spain-Portugal, Australia and Japan also are bidding to host both World Cups. Indonesia, Qatar and South Korea are bidding for 2022 only.

    Eight of the 24 voters on FIFA's executive committee are from Europe, making that continent the favorite to host in 2018.

    "Until somebody tells us we're not permitted to bid for '18, we're bidding for '18. We're bidding for both," Downs said.

    Still, he admitted, "a lot of intelligent people are forecasting that '18 is a race between European nations."