• Germany and England in tiny minority that opposed changes • 'The decision to expand was taken by the vast majority'

Michel Platini has claimed England were one of only three national associations to have opposed expanding the European Championship finals from 16 to 24 teams as the Uefa president outlined his plans to revive the international game.

The qualifying draw for Euro 2016 in France takes place in Nice on Sunday, with England included in the first pot of seeds, ensuring they avoid Germany, Spain, Italy and Holland in the six-team groups. Scotland and Wales are among the fourth seeds, Northern Ireland in the fifth pot, while Martin O'Neill's Republic of Ireland are in the second group of teams.

The decision to expand the finals to 24 teams was first mooted, according to Platini, by Scotland and the Republic of Ireland back in 2007 and passed by the Uefa congress in 2009 in Copenhagen, but has drawn criticism for potentially diluting the quality of the competition. Germany, like England, had objected to the change, with their national manager, Joachim Löw, last week describing the decision as "questionable", both for the finals and in qualification, and added: "The sporting worth of each game and also the overall competition decreases."

"He shouldn't play it then, in that case," said Platini . "The decision [to expand the finals to 24 teams] was taken by the vast majority. Two or three associations – England, Germany, the big ones basically – weren't in favour, but of the 54, 51 actually supported the tournament.

"So, in any democracy, when the vast majority are in favour, you go forward with it even if England or Germany aren't for it.

"We've gone from 16 to 24 teams, and this was a proposal from Ireland and Scotland back in 2007. They'd wanted a 24-team tournament. We can have 24 very good teams, so this tournament can be a success. From seeing the rehearsal draw this morning, I realised there'll be a lot of pressure on teams. There are some very strong teams. The five or six biggest teams don't have much to worry about, but for the others it will be very competitive. So 24 teams will be as good as 16 teams."

Platini suggested Uefa's adoption of their "week of football" scheduling, whereby there will be two rounds of qualifying matches spread over six days from Thursday to Tuesday during Uefa windows, would thrust the international game back into prominence. Teams will play either Thursday and Sunday, Friday and Monday or Saturday and Tuesday if they have back-to-back fixtures.

"'The week of football' is a new concept for national team matches, agreed unanimously by national associations," added Platini. "It was a political decision. National football had been pushed out of the limelight by the club game and, while domestic leagues and the Champions League are wonderful competitions, we want to see the national game take more importance once again."