UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino said yesterday that he wanted to extend Europe’s dominance over the world game by increasing its number of 2018 World Cup spots to 14.

Currently European countries are guaranteed 13 of the 32 places in the group stages — three times as many as any of the other five confederations.

And Europe already effectively has 14 entrants, with host nation Russia automatically qualifying.

Infantino told reporters in Vienna: “Nineteen of the top 32 ranked associations are European, the winners of the last three World Cups were European.

“It’s absolutely objective and fair to be asking for one more position only — in fact we could ask for more than one. To be crowned world champions you must have the best teams in the competitions.”

Fifa president Sepp Blatter has previously urged other confederations to fight for more guaranteed spots, and even Uefa president Michel Platini has already debunked Infantino’s argument.

Speaking in 2013, he told the Times: “It’s a political matter so why not have more Africans?
“The competition is to bring all the people of all the world. If you don’t give the possibility to participate, they don’t improve.”