Argentina and Mexico join Africa in backing FIFA’s Infantino: What to know

Published 7 August 2026 · sports

How does FIFA presidency stand? Norway wants resignation, but Argentina and Mexico join Africa in Gianni Infantino camp. World football’s growing divide has deepened with

How does FIFA presidency stand? Norway wants resignation, but Argentina and Mexico join Africa in Gianni Infantino camp. World football’s growing divide has deepened with the declarations of support for FIFA’s defiant Gianni Infantino by Argentina and Mexico, coming only a day after Africa unanimously voted to back the president of football’s global governing body. Infantino continues to face fierce backlash over a now-abandoned proposal to sell off a number of commercial rights to the World Cup and other FIFA events. Following a meeting in Rabat this week, FIFA said it had apologised to its members for mistakes around the proposal. It also pledged to review the processes that led to the controversy, but backed its president. Infantino’s biggest opponent remains UEFA, the sport’s governing body in Europe, which confirmed on Thursday that it stands by its vote to boycott FIFA. One of its members, Norway, has now called for the Swiss Italian’s resignation. Al Jazeera takes a look at the growing standoff, which is pushing countries and entire continents in different directions. Why is Argentina and Mexico’s backing of Infantino so significant? Although only football associations, not continental confederations, the move by Mexico and Argentina will come as a significant boost to Infantino, but is also a prime example of the civil war brewing in the so-called “people’s game”. In supporting Infantino, the Mexican ⁠Football Federation (FMF), cohosts of the recently concluded 2026 World Cup, have crucially broken ranks with their own regional confederation by backing Infantino after CONCACAF called for a “comprehensive reckoning” with his presidency.

“The FMF will neither recognise nor approve any process convened outside of that institutional framework, and it joins the call made … by President Infantino to collectively continue developing football for the benefit of the 211 member associations,” it said in a statement. “The FMF supports President Infantino’s leadership in continuing to promote the development of football through institutional strengthening.” South America’s CONMEBOL issued a statement on Thursday rejecting any attempt to oust Infantino that did not involve a vote of all 211 members – a move that seems to counter the stance taken by UEFA. In a letter to Infantino, Argentina’s football association (AFA), whose team failed to defend their Qatar 2022 title in the final of the 2026 edition, moved beyond the statement from its confederation by expressing its outright support of Infantino. The AFA cited FIFA’s work over ⁠the last 10 years, saying it had “centred on the development of football worldwide and institutional strength based on a clear, stable, and transparent governance model”. While the AFA acknowledged that the proposal generated far ⁠more uncertainties than certainties and that errors had been made, it said the ⁠way forward was to continue working under FIFA’s leadership before next year’s Congress. That will be staged in Morocco in March, where Infantino is expected to be challenged for the presidency, having been unopposed in his two re-elections. CONMEBOL’s earlier statement had expressed concerns over the “repeated unilateral actions taken without resorting to dialogue”, stressing the importance of institutional reforms FIFA introduced more than a decade ago to promote transparency.