As Gianni Infantino remains under fire, who could replace him as FIFA president?

Less than a month after the conclusion of the 2026 World Cup, FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s hold on the position is perilous.

Following the news of Infantino supporting a 64-team World Cup proposal and the scheme to sell stakes in the men’s and women’s World Cups through private investment, powerful figures and confederations in the sport have turned their backs on the president and his days in power could be coming to an end.

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Could Infantino be ousted before the March 2027 FIFA presidential election? It’s possible, but would require 43 member associations to trigger a no-confidence vote against him. Any opposition would require an alternative choice to take over.

Infantino had previously believed he had the backing of enough confederations to be re-elected for a final four-year term. Now many of the confederations have joined the calls for an exhaustive review and overhaul of FIFA’s processes. No candidate has stepped forward yet to challenge Infantino for the presidency and there is a Nov. 18 deadline for interested parties to announce they are running.

Should he stand for re-election, Infantino would need the support of 106 out of FIFA’s 211 member associations to win.

If Infantino doesn’t last until the March election or is able to run for one final term, who could replace him as FIFA president?

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Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa, AFC president

A scathing letter from the Asian Football Conference that accused FIFA of errors in its World Cup stake sale plan saying it “exposed fundamental weaknesses in FIFA’s consultation and decision-making processes that must now be addressed” was signed by its president, Al Khalifa.

The 60-year-old is a senior vice president on the FIFA Council, the organization’s main decision-making body, and has guided the AFC since 2013 after being president of the Bahrain Football Association for over a decade. A member of the Bahrain royal family, Al Khalifa has helped grow the AFC Champions League Elite during his time as the confederation’s president. He has been a big advocate in growing the women’s game in the region and has announced his objection to the 64-team World Cup idea.

Al Khalifa’s term as confederation president ends in 2027.

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Victor Montagliani, Concacaf president

Along with Montagliani’s duties running Concacaf, he is also one of eight VPs on the 37-member FIFA Council.

The former president of the Canadian Soccer Association, Montagliani played a big role in having Canada serve as one of the co-hosts of the 2026 World Cup and was head of the organization when the country hosted the 2015 Women’s World Cup. He also helped the Canadian Premier League get off the ground in 2017.

British outlet The Paper reported last month that Montagliani is “making moves” towards a presidential run as Infantino’s support dwindles globally.

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Like Al Khalifa, Montalgiani’s time as president will be up in 2027.

Aleksander Čeferin, UEFA president

Čeferin, a noted critic of Infantino, has been head of UEFA since 2016. He did not attend the World Cup final between Argentina and Spain in protest to how FIFA handled the Folarin Balogun red card situation during the tournament’s knockout round.

The 58-year-old was originally going to stand down after his second term as the confederation’s president, but is reportedly willing to seek re-election next March if no other candidates are announced … unless the FIFA job piques his interest.

Nasser Al-Khelaifi, PSG president

The 52-year-old is also the chairman of the beIN Media Group and Qatar Sports Investments, along with his duties with Ligue 1 side Paris Saint-Germain, the reigning back-to-back Champions League winners.

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In 2021, he became head of the European Clubs Association after being part of the vocal opposition to the European Super League plan.

Al-Khelaifi is reportedly not interesting in replacing Infantino. The Qatar Football Association recently backed the embattled FIFA president.

“Nasser has absolutely no ambition, no intention, no interest in the FIFA role, and he will continue to discreetly support all the institutions of world and European football,” an Al-Khelaifi representative recently told Politico.

A former player and now lawyer, Klaveness has one interesting supporter in her corner: banned former FIFA president Sepp Blatter, who wrote on X earlier this month that “the time is right for a woman to take the lead.”

Klaveness has already called for Infantino to resign, saying “there is no trust” in the FIFA president.

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She has been a thorn in Infantino’s side for years. In 2022, after taking over the Norwegian federation, she criticized the process that led to Qatar being awarded the 2022 World Cup, saying “human rights, equality, democracy, the core interests of football, were not in the starting 11.”

In 2023, the Norwegian federation did not back Infantino’s re-election bid. Last month, an Ethics Committee complaint was filed to FIFA following the Balogun red card situation, Infantino’s stake sale proposal and the decision to award a “Peace Prize” to U.S. President Donald Trump.

Arsène Wenger

Hired in 2019 as FIFA’s Chief of Global Football Development, the former legendary Arsenal manager has brought out-of-the-box ideas to the table like his “daylight offside rule” that was trialed in Canada. The 76-year-old Wenger recently said he was unaware of the stake sale plan and that it was “absolutely necessary” for Infantino to drop the idea.

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Mattias Grafström, FIFA secretary general

Grafström’s rift with Infantino came to light recently when the Associated Press reported on an email the FIFA secretary general sent to staff following the World Cup stake sale controversy.

“A sad and reproachable series of events — which were thankfully concluded with the FFE [FIFA Forward Enterprise] project permanently abandoned — for as much as we feel dismayed by them, should not overshadow this reality,” the 45-year-old Swede wrote.

While that message was sent privately, Grafström publicly backed the president in a statement released by FIFA last week, saying that Infantino has “full support” of members of the organization’s management board. Would he be considered too close to the under-fire president if he were to decide to pursue the opportunity?