Sepp Blatter says England is easiest place to stage 2018 World Cup

• Fifa president buoys hopes for bid to host tournament

• 'Everything is here – fans, stadiums, infrastructure'

A banner for England's 2018 World Cup bid at Wembley Stadium,
one of the venues being inspected by Fifa delegates.
 Photograph: Tom Jenkins

England's hopes of staging the 2018 World Cup have been boosted at the start of a four-day inspection of their bid, with the Fifa president Sepp Blatter admitting it would be "easy" to stage the tournament in the country.

Blatter did, however, warn that Russia would be very powerful opponents in the bidding contest.

England 2018's bid team will be buoyed by the comments at the start of the visit by a six-man Fifa inspection team.

Blatter said: "The easiest way to organise the World Cup is to go to England. Everything is there – fans, stadiums, infrastructure – it's easy."

He also insisted England's disappointing performances at the World Cup in South Africa this summer would have no bearing on the bid – the World Cup winners Spain are bidding jointly for 2018 with Portugal. Holland and Belgium are in the contest too, also as joint bidders.

Blatter said: "The performances of bidding countries' national teams does not matter, definitely not. It is the quality of their bid that matters."

Russia are viewed as England's biggest rivals to win the vote by Fifa's executive committee on 2 December and Blatter appeared to support that.

"You cannot deny Russia if they bid for something. They are more than a country. They are a big continent, a big power," he said.

The Fifa inspection team, led by the Chilean federation president Harold Mayne-Nicholls and including South Africa's World Cup chief executive Danny Jordaan, are due to meet the deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, at a reception at Downing Street later today.

Clegg will emphasise the Government's commitment to England's bid and will be joined by the culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt, the sports minister, Hugh Robertson, and an England 2018 delegation led by the bid's chairman, Geoff Thompson.

The inspection team will then meet the England manager, Fabio Capello, at Wembley, where they will tour the stadium and watch a community coaching session.

They will also travel to the north-east and north-west of England during their visit, which aims mainly to assess the technical aspects of the bid.