Ferdinand and Shearer bemoan England bid failure

England captain Rio Ferdinand has led the reaction to the failed World Cup 2018 bid, describing himself as "gutted".

Russia got the nod from FIFA's executive committee despite England's odds of success shortening significantly after a lavish charm offensive led by British Prime Minister David Cameron, Prince William and David Beckham.

Having heard the news from Zurich the Manchester United defender, who has played an ambassadorial role in England's bid, wrote on his Twitter account: "Wow Russia will host the world cup 2018....soooo gutted. What more could we have done? What did we do wrong?"

Former England skipper Alan Shearer told BBC Radio 'Five Live': "I don't think anyone could have done any more, everyone's worked very, very hard but at the end of the day it's not been successful. If you try your best at least you can sleep at night.

"I was hoping I might see a World Cup in my lifetime in England. I wasn't born the last time we had one in '66.

"It's unfortunate, it's sad, it hurts, but you have to congratulate the winners and Russia have been winners today - and Qatar - so well done to those guys, I'm sure they've worked very hard, but it's disappointing from my point of view.

"Everyone was really happy and really confident with the bid that we put in, we don't feel as though we could have done any more.

"Everyone has worked tirelessly and for the Prime Minister and Prince William to do what they have done, we really couldn't have done any more."