Blatter, who has been the organisation's secretary-general for 21 years, defeated the only other candidate, Lennart Johanssen, in the second round of voting at the Fifa Congress in Paris.

Blatter's victory address from BBC Radio 5 Live

Johanssen is known to favour Germany to host the finals in 2006 and a win by the Swede could have dealt a significant blow to the English bid.

Both candidates conductetd intense lobbying in the run-up to Monday's vote. Earlier this week England, who had originally supported Johansson, suddenly switched sides and vowed to vote for Blatter.

But Fifa executive committee member Antonio Matarrese, a key member of Johansson's campaign team, said England's decision would change nothing.