"Politics must not be allowed to overshadow the game," said Sepp Blatter after the 2026 World Cup. That's Sepp Blatter — a man banned from football — publicly calling out the current FIFA president. That tells you everything about how badly Gianni Infantino read the room over the last six weeks.
Spain won the tournament. Erling Haaland left with 30 million new followers and a World Cup debut to remember. Cabo Verde made the knockouts in their first-ever appearance. And yet the story that refuses to die is Infantino himself — the hydration breaks repurposed as ad slots, the rule tweaks nobody asked for, the bird's nest perch above fans who'd paid extortionate prices to be there. The football was often good. The governance around it was not.
The candidates lining up
With FIFA presidential elections scheduled for November — nominations close on the 18th — Infantino's position is shakier than it's been since he took office. The English FA has reportedly withdrawn its support. Others may follow.
The name with the most European backing right now is Dariusz Mioduski, the Legia Warsaw president. The Belgian, Spanish, Norwegian, German, and Swedish associations are reportedly ready to back him, per Ben Jacobs of talkSPORT. Ironically, the Polish FA isn't among them — they're said to be supporting Nasser Al-Khelaifi instead. A PSG chairman running global football. Make of that what you will.
Aleksander Ceferin would be the tidy choice — UEFA president, established, respected across the continent — but he's shown no appetite to make the move. Viktor Montagliani, CONCACAF president, has stated he wants the FIFA top job eventually, though perhaps not this cycle. African CAF president Patrice Motsepe is reportedly thinking 2031.
What November actually means
If Infantino hangs on, he governs until 2031. That's four more years of whatever the 2026 World Cup was — a product optimized for broadcast revenue and political optics, dressed up as football's greatest celebration.
The question isn't whether there's an appetite for change. There clearly is. The question is whether the associations that grumble loudly in public will actually coordinate behind a single challenger, or split the vote and hand Infantino another term by default. It's happened before at FIFA. The bloc that gets behind one name earliest has the edge — which right now looks like it might be Mioduski, however unlikely that name might have sounded twelve months ago.
Nominations close November 18th. Infantino will be watching every flag that drops.
