Well, you knew that politically savvy move was coming with World Cup bid decision day fewer than 50 days away.

With England the prohibitive favorite for the 2018 cup this move likely ensures that nation’s support for the U.S. bid four years later and likely much of Europe’s, too.

From the U.S. Soccer press release: The decision comes after several months of careful deliberation with FIFA, UEFA and members of the USA Bid Board of Directors. Four European candidates now remain in the race for 2018 (Belgium/Netherlands, England, Russia and Spain/Portugal). Since the FIFA Statutes indicate that the competition cannot be held on the same continent on two successive occasions, the 2022 campaign will now be between Australia, Japan, Korea Republic, Qatar and the USA.

“We have had an open and constructive dialogue with the USA Bid for some time now, after it became apparent that there was a growing movement to stage the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Europe. The announcement of today by the USA Bid to focus solely on the 2022 FIFA World Cup is therefore a welcome gesture which is much appreciated by FIFA”, said FIFA Secretary General Jrme Valcke.

The FIFA Executive Committee will gather in Zurich on 28 and 29 October to discuss among other items the final voting process for the selection of the host nations for the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups.

“We wanted to make the announcement now – still 48 days before the final decision – in order to make our intentions clear during the last part of our campaign. This also enables FIFA to finalize the selection procedures during its upcoming scheduled Executive Committee meeting,” said U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati.