Martin Snedden, head of the 2011 Cup organising committee, believes the goal is attainable and says the country's success in hosting two major sports events in the past four years demonstrates it has the capability and infrastructure to support such a massive undertaking, though realistically it would be done with Australia.
Snedden, also the former head of the Tourism Industry Association, said he could see a scenario where New Zealand hosted two or three of the eight pools and some knockout matches, with the rest being hosted across the Tasman.
Snedden said the first task was to engage the major stakeholders here - the government, local authorities and New Zealand Football - and move the conversation beyond the default position of "we're too small and the event's too big".
"I've had informal discussions with [Foreign Affairs and Associate Sport and Recreation Minister] Murray McCully and [Sport and Recreation Minister] Jonathan Coleman to seed the idea with them," Snedden said.
He had also had talks with Andy Martin, CEO of NZ Football, and the head of Sport NZ, Peter Miskimmin.
Snedden said the reception had been positive, though there was recognition there would be plenty of hurdles to leap.
"Those discussions have mainly been to say, 'Don't dismiss the idea. Think about ways to advance it.' There's a pretty clear route as to how to advance it."
Snedden has identified three phases to the process: get the NZ stakeholders on board with the idea, convince the Australians they could work with NZ on a strong bid, and start lobbying the Asia and Oceania confederations and Fifa.
He said the first two phases would take some time but not a lot of money and would give a clear signal as to whether phase three was feasible.
"From where I'm sitting now, I want to see us give something a real crack that we didn't think we could do. If you're looking to host an event that is a sure bet, this isn't one of them."
New Zealand is already hosting another of football's great events, the Fifa Under-20 World Cup, from May 30 to June 20.
