Infantino on the brink? Who might replace him if he goes

Life moves fast for Gianni Infantino. On 19 July the Fifa president stood alongside US President Donald Trump to hand the World Cup trophy to Spain, the finish line of a fortnight spent zig-zagging across the United States by private jet to be everywhere at once. Less than two weeks later he is in a lonely place: condemned by UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham, castigated by supporters of the game he professes to want to protect. The question nobody was asking a month ago is now unavoidable — if Infantino goes, who replaces him?

Why Infantino is suddenly isolated

Infantino is isolated because the highly personal way he ran the 2026 World Cup has rebounded on him. Through the closing stages he criss-crossed the United States by private jet to make himself effectively omnipresent, right up to the 19 July final won by Spain.

The trophy presentation was the turning point. Sharing the stage with Donald Trump framed him as a political operator rather than a custodian of the sport. UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham condemned him publicly, and supporter groups have accused him of turning football into a showcase.

None of that on its own topples a Fifa president. What is different is the accumulation — political criticism, fan anger and a shortage of visible allies at exactly the moment he should be banking the credit for a tournament that worked on the pitch.

How a Fifa president is actually replaced

The Fifa president is elected by Congress, where each of the 211 member associations has one vote. The Football Association carries exactly the same weight as the smallest island federation, which is the single most important fact in this story: Fifa elections are won by stacking up small associations in Africa, Asia and Concacaf, not by winning over Europe.

If a president resigned mid-term, the existing leadership would hold the fort until a Congress — ordinary or extraordinary — elected a successor. Even an abrupt exit would not produce an overnight change of direction.

It is worth being precise here. No resignation has been announced. What is genuinely at stake right now is Infantino’s political authority, not yet his job.

The names being mentioned

The most frequently mentioned name is Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin, who went from Infantino ally to open opponent over the international calendar and the expanded Club World Cup. He has the standing — but he also carries the European label, historically a handicap at a Fifa Congress.

Officials from non-European confederations are also being talked about, on the simple arithmetic that they start closer to a Congress majority. To be clear: nobody has declared a candidacy, and everything circulating at this stage is speculation rather than fact.

From an English perspective, the FA under chair Debbie Hewitt has no obvious candidate of its own, but it does have a vote, a seat on the Fifa Council and considerable influence with the European bloc. The Premier League, meanwhile, has been among the loudest critics of calendar expansion — it will not sit this one out.

What it would mean for England and the Premier League

For the Premier League, this comes down to fixture congestion. The expanded Club World Cup and additional Fifa windows land directly on clubs already juggling 38 league games, two domestic cups and European football, with squads that were visibly running on empty by the end of last season.

A president more receptive to domestic leagues would slow that expansion. In practice that means England internationals — Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham, Cole Palmer — arriving at tournaments with something left in the tank rather than being managed through them.

There is a financial dimension too. Fifa’s distribution of World Cup revenue and its development funding reach the FA and the grassroots game. A change at the top would reshuffle those priorities.

The most likely outcome from here

The most likely short-term outcome is that Infantino stays. He was re-elected unopposed in 2023 and retains broad support among associations that depend on Fifa’s development programmes. Criticism from European politicians does not shift votes at Congress.

What changes is his room for manoeuvre. A weakened president negotiates from a worse position, pushes through fewer reforms and has to share power with Uefa and the major leagues. That is where the real contest of the next few months will be fought.

What to watch: the date and agenda of the next Fifa Congress, public statements from the confederations, and the fate of the most contested files — the expanded Club World Cup, the 2027-2030 calendar, and how 2026 World Cup revenue is divided.

FAQ