Zurich, April 14:

Brazil is the sole remaining candidate to host the 2014 World Cup now that Colombia is out of the running. Brazil submitted its bidding agreement forms on Friday before the April 16 deadline, while FIFA said the Colombian football association pulled out on Wednesday.

Brazil now has to provide the necessary government guarantees and complete its bid by the end of July. FIFA will then visit Brazil in September and its inspection group will submit a report by November 1. The FIFA executive committee is expected to name the host nation in November.

In Brazil, the sports minister said the country was confident it would get approval and eager to show it was prepared to stage the World Cup. “I am confident we will win (approval),” minister Orlando Silva de Jesus Junior said.