World Cup 2026: Is Balogun the scandal that could bring down Infantino?
UEFA drew up new battle lines on Tuesday, voicing its strong opposition to Balogun’s decision.
European football’s governing body said FIFA had “crossed a red line” and described it as “an unprecedented, incomprehensible and unfair decision”.
However, this was not the first time UEFA clashed with FIFA.
In May 2025, UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin led a group of European delegates to leave the hall during a break at the FIFA Congress.
Infantino was on a diplomatic trip to the Middle East with Trump and arrived two hours and 17 minutes late.
UEFA also tried to score political points during the World Cup.
As soon as Artan arrived home in Somalia last month, UEFA announced that he had been invited to referee the UEFA Super Cup between Paris St-Germain and Aston Villa on 12 August.
And throughout this year UEFA has tried to point out how cheap Euro 2028 tickets are compared to the World Cup. Players who cover their mouths will not be given a fluid break or red card.
Remember that Infantino comes from UEFA. He was the man who hosted the Champions League draw for years.
He may not be persona non grata there these days (he spoke at the UEFA Congress in February) but there is clear friction.
Considering all this, should Infantino’s stance be questionable?
On the contrary. Infantino is popular with many federations around the world, and much of this is due to FIFA’s development of the game.
Infantino’s Fifa Forward program has funded football projects around the world and created opportunities through an expanded World Cup.
Sixteen more countries have now qualified to participate; The vast majority of these come from confederations with less depth. Europe had only three additional quotas.
This World Cup has shown that below the top level, Asia and Concacaf have a lot of work to do to be competitive.
But Infantino provided the dream and hope that nations who had never had the chance to play in the World Cup before could get there. Such as Cape Verde, Curacao, Jordan and Uzbekistan.
Despite all the criticism about the 48-team format, it gave Cape Verde the chance to live their dream.
And this will allow less traditional football nations to improve their game and get stronger – and surely that’s a positive thing for football around the world?
Capture?
Tournaments like the World Cup and huge ticket prices pay for these projects.
FIFA expected to bring in $9bn (£7.9bn) in revenue this year
UEFA may disagree with much of what Fifa and Infantino stand for, but European football is the rich man of the game. It can be largely self-financing.
The rest of the game depends on Infantino and the money FIFA generates.
There are 211 countries within FIFA. Each gets one vote for president, and 106 votes are needed to win the election.
Let’s look at the math.
In April, South American confederation Conmebol said 10 of its countries would support Infantino.
Three weeks later the Confederation of African Football (Caf) confirmed the unanimous support of its 54 member associations.
Shortly afterwards, the 47 countries of the Asian Football Confederation followed suit.
Infantino currently has 111 votes. He cannot be beaten.
Even if UEFA thinks it can recruit a candidate who can meet the challenges, the race has already been run.
Infantino was re-elected unopposed in 2019 and 2023. It would take something truly remarkable to oppose him, let alone beat him in 2027.
