"Everyone is thinking and talking about Infantino, but nobody ever does anything." That one line, from a senior figure inside FIFA's own orbit, tells you everything about how global football actually works in 2025.
The Folarin Balogun suspended-suspension saga had UEFA issuing statements of "disbelief" and "unjustifiable decision" language that felt genuinely sharp by football politics standards. For a moment, it looked like Infantino had finally gone too far — that putting a thumb on the scale during a knockout round of his own World Cup, with Donald Trump publicly admitting he'd phoned to intervene, was the line that couldn't be uncrossed.
It wasn't. Belgium won the game. The issue evaporated outside of Europe almost immediately. And the man Trump calls the "king of soccer" is, by every account The Athletic gathered from a dozen senior officials across multiple confederations, more secure in his position than before the tournament started.
The math is simple — and it's all money
Since Infantino took over after the Blatter corruption collapse in 2016, FIFA's grants to its 211 member associations have quadrupled. For many national federations, those handouts represent over 75% of their total income. FIFA has budgeted $13 billion in revenue for the current four-year cycle — and Infantino will almost certainly announce the World Cup delivered even more than projected.
Three confederations — Africa, Asia and South America — declared unanimous support for Infantino at April's FIFA Congress in Vancouver. That's 111 of 211 votes before anyone else speaks. Oceania is financially dependent on FIFA's life support. The Caribbean bloc within Concacaf isn't causing trouble. Europe has 55 votes but can't even hold its own line: the English FA has already promised Infantino its vote, stayed out of the Balogun complaint, and quietly helped UEFA walk back a previous angry memo. Why? The 2035 Women's World Cup hosting bid is sitting with FIFA awaiting sign-off, and a men's tournament is the longer dream beyond that. Risk versus benefit. Nobody wants to be David Bernstein at the 2011 congress — the man who tried to block a presidential coronation and found himself completely alone.
One senior official called this "spineless." They're probably right. They're also probably staying anonymous.
What comes next is bigger than Balogun
Rather than go quiet after the Trump phone call scandal, Infantino immediately signalled plans to expand the World Cup again — this time to 64 teams. He had previously argued against rushing expansion after the leap from 32 to 48 sides. That position is now apparently gone. Nine of ten African qualifiers reached the round of 32 this time. Cape Verde went deep. The argument writes itself: more teams, more games, more broadcast inventory, more FIFA grants flowing downward. The federations currently grumbling about expansion will do the same calculation they always do.
Then there's the Club World Cup. A 48-team version, potentially every two years instead of four, is reportedly in consideration. European Football Clubs boss Nasser Al-Khelaifi has resisted — but EFC and FIFA already have a strategic partnership running to 2030 and are building something described privately as a joint venture modelled on the Champions League structure. Al-Khelaifi may find the same inevitability logic that has neutralised every other pocket of resistance.
Some respondents floated an exit path for Infantino post-2031: a role overseeing this new joint venture, potentially swapping positions with Al-Khelaifi. Others raised the possibility of statute changes to extend his FIFA stay beyond the current three-term limit. Nobody ruled it out. One said: "I think someone close to him will float the idea. Maybe that will be the real red line for the confederations — but I wouldn't put my house on it."
Infantino completely controls FIFA. He will leave this World Cup emboldened. The fourth term in 2027 is uncontested. Whatever happens in 2031 and beyond is, at this point, whatever he decides it is.
