The football federations of Portugal and Spain have signed the document formalising the intention of the two Iberian countries to jointly host the 2018 or 2022 World Cup finals. The combined bid has been mooted for more than a year and was finally confirmed two weeks ago.

"We will create a joint commision to assess all Fifa conditions," Portuguese Federation president Gilberto Madail told reporters after signing the document with Spaniah counterpart Angel Maria Villar.

Fifa have issued a deadline of February 2nd for letters of interest to be

submitted. The winning bid will be announced in December 2010.

Fifa president Sepp Blatter has said Spain, alone or with Portugal, were strong candidates to be hosts in 2018, as were England and the Netherlands with Belgium. Australia, China, Mexico and Russia have also expressed interest.

Spain has not hosted the World Cup finals since 1982, but Portugal built 10 new stadiums to host the European Championship in 2004.