David Beckham handed over England's 2018 World Cup bid to Fifa yesterday with the message ­“football runs through our veins”.

The former Manchester United and Real Madrid midfielder spoke of the “passion and emotion” England could bring to the tournament, as he led a five-strong ­delegation to Fifa HQ in Zurich.

Beckham said: “I'm here on behalf of our fans. Football runs through our veins. We are all brought up on it.

“It's truly an honour to be here. On behalf of our team, the delegation and our fans, we present you with our bid book.”

Fifa president Sepp Blatter, receiving the 1,752-page bid, referred to England as the “motherland” of football and disclosed that David Cameron had called him to ­personally endorse it. Mr Blatter said: “Yesterday, I received a call from the new Prime Minister.

Not only did he express his determination to be behind the bid but he is also behind the World Cup in 2010.”

Beckham, who is injured but may take up an offer by Fabio Capello to travel with England's coaching staff for the 2010 Cup, said winning the vote to stage it would rank among his greatest achievements. He said: “It would certainly be up there.”

Mr Cameron, an Aston Villa fan, said in his call to Blatter: “We will do everything in our power to help secure the honour of hosting this prestigious event. The World Cup is a cause that unites and excites the nation like few others. Football is at the heart of so many of our communities.”

The book, the most extensive of all the bids, explains how 2018 would be organised. The next milestone is Fifa's technical inspection in August – the point at which England's ill-fated 2006 campaign failed.

But Ian Riley, chief of England's technical bid, had the same role for South Africa's 2010 bid and has been careful to ensure no repeat. He said: “We have a good balance of existing stadiums and new builds.”

The Fifa vote on December 2 is expected to award 2018 to Europe, with Russia, joint bids by Spain and Portugal, and Holland and Belgium also competing.

Ruud Gullit arrived in less grand style to present Holland’s bid – on a bike. The countries expected to fight it out for 2022, are Australia, the US, Qatar, Korea and Japan.