London's victorious Olympic Games campaign has created a mood of national self-confidence that means England could bid successfully to stage the football World Cup, said Tessa Jowell, the culture secretary, yesterday.

She envisaged London 2012 acting as a springboard for other events, including not only the World Cup but the athletics world championships, and added: "We are in a different place on the world stage now in relation to sport and the world's greatest sporting events."

Jowell said exploratory talks had been held with the Treasury and the FA was in the very early stages of taking soundings about a bid to stage the 2018 finals. She hoped other sports would be equally ambitious in attempting to bring such events to Britain.

"It is impossible to launch a bid like this unless there is clear and strong government support," said Jowell.

A Treasury spokesman said: "In the normal course of its business, the Treasury and the Department of Culture, Media and Sport are in constant dialogue with the FA and other sports bodies on a range of issues. Discussions about a World Cup bid in 2018 are at a very early stage but we are hopeful we can build on the success of our Olympic bid by bringing the World Cup and other great international sporting events to Britain."

Fifa, football's international governing body, has said the 2014 World Cup is likely to be staged in South America, but its president, Sepp Blatter, has publicly backed the idea of an England bid for 2018. Earlier this month he said: "I would say yes, England should bid - it is the homeland of football."

Yesterday Brian Barwick, the chief executive of the FA, said: "We are clearly giving serious consideration to putting together a bid. Obviously a World Cup in this country would be a fantastic occasion and every English football fan would love to see the world's best players gracing our stadia."

The new Wembley, Arsenal's new Emirates stadium, St James's Park and Old Trafford would be key venues for a bid by the FA.

Guardian Service