If Australia's bid to host the 2022 World Cup can survive the first round or two of voting, it may well come home with a wet sail, just as Sydney's bid for the 2000 Olympics did in Monte Carlo in 1993.

Avoiding early elimination will be the first trick, especially as Australia cannot now rely on Oceania boss Reynald Temarii, banned from FIFA's decision-making body over a British newspaper's vote-buying sting.

So Australia's first concern is not the 12 votes it will ultimately need to ensure victory but the handful it will probably need to avoid an early exit.

This is how the voting process will work in Zurich on Thursday (early Friday AEDT), when the 2018 World Cup will be decided along with Australia's quest for 2022 against the US, Qatar, Japan and South Korea.

FIFA's executive committee has been reduced from 24 members to 22 following the bans imposed on Temarii and Nigerian Amos Adamu, so the target for an outright majority has been reduced from 13 votes to 12.

If there is no absolute majority, the nation with the least number of votes is eliminated and a further round of voting takes place. If two nations tie for the lowest number, an intermediate round is held to eliminate one of them before the next round proceeds.

If voting is tied between the two final candidates at 11-11, FIFA President Sepp Blatter will decide the winner. Voting is by secret ballot at FIFA headquarters in Zurich.

When the two winning bids are decided the names of the successful nations will be put in separate envelopes and taken to a conference hall where 1,000 of the world's media and 500 members of the nine bid teams will be waiting.

Blatter will announce the results to an expectant world just as Juan Antonio Samaranch did when he mispronounced the name of Sydney in 1993.

IOC records show that Sydney trailed Beijing in the first three rounds of voting for the 2000 Olympics, getting up only in the final round by 45 votes to 43. Australia's World Cup bid will hope to emulate that trajectory.

But Australia is one of four Asian nations bidding against each other, which could fracture Asia's own support base. It's to be hoped that as Asian candidates drop off the radar, they will throw their support behind another Asian bid. But which one?

South Korea's Chung Mong-Joon could reasonably be expected to support his own nation's bid, as could Mohamed Bin Hammam (Qatar) and Junji Ogura (Japan). The same applies to American delegate Chuck Blazer.

Australia has no such luxury since the axe fell on Oceania's Aussie-supporting representative. So more support must be garnered from other quarters.

Rival bidders will be similarly focused. Zurich this week will be a hotbed of lobbying and number-crunching on a scale that would make political parties look like student representative councils.

Leading the charge for Australia will be Frank Lowy, the Westfield billionaire and Football Federation Australia (FFA) boss. He is supported by CEO Ben Buckley and key members of Australia's bid team, as well as a couple of unnamed "special guests". These are sure to be Australian heavy hitters with international appeal.

Model Elle Macpherson reportedly is one, and there is speculation singer Kylie Minogue may be another. Actor Nicole Kidman appears in a promotional clip and Hollywood director Phillip Noyce has put together a mini film to be used in Australia's final 30-minute presentation in Zurich.

The film includes Olympic stars Cathy Freeman and Ian Thorpe, F1 driver Mark Webber and former Socceroo John Aloisi, whose penalty shoot-out goal sent Australia through to the 2006 finals in Germany.

Governor-general Quentin Bryce and federal Sports Minister Mark Arbib will also fly the flag, but apparently not Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

Former president Bill Clinton will be there for the US. America's high profile bid board includes former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, comedian Drew Carey, former boxer Oscar De La Hoya, director Spike Lee and actors Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt. That is a measure of the calibre of support called in to snare the biggest prize in world sport.

That is why tensions will run high in the frenetic days leading up to the vote. Australia's $45 million bid spanning two years of effort, documented in 764 pages bound in kangaroo leather, will rest inside an envelope containing one name.

Doug Conway, Senior Correspondent
AAP