Fifa has voted to scrap its continental rotation policy for the World Cup, a decision which throws the race for the 2018 tournament wide open.
John Schumacher, a spokesman for Fifa, said the new rule, which was made at a meeting of the executive committee, would go into effect starting with the 2018 World Cup.
Countries belonging to the African and South American confederations will not be eligible to host the 2018 tournament because South Africa will host the 2010 competition and Brazil is expected to have its bid for 2014 confirmed on Tuesday.
World football's governing body has been under heavy pressure to open up the 2018 bidding to allow nations outside North and Central America and the Caribbean to host the tournament.
Nations interested in hosting the 2018 event include the United States, England, Russia, Australia, Spain, China, Mexico and a joint bid from the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg.
"I am delighted that FIFA have opened the door for the World Cup to come back to England," British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said.
"By 2018, it will be 52 years since England hosted the World Cup. The nation which gave football to the world deserves to have the greatest tournament back on these shores."
The rotation system meant that after Colombia dropped out of the 2014 race, Brazil was left as the sole candidate, a situation FIFA president Sepp Blatter wanted to avoid in the future.