So it seems now that FIFA president Gianni Infantino will not press for a vote on a biennial World Cup in December. Which is just as well given he would probably have won the vote but lost the war. With UEFA implacably opposed to the proposal and backed by CONMEBOL—whose president Alejandro Domínguez had seemed in favor in 2019—and, reportedly, one other confederation, there was a serious risk of a rift in the global game. And if Brazil, Argentina and the major European nations are on one side, the other side cannot win.
Even before the news that Infantino would settle for a meeting and discussions with confederation leaders, the sense had been of increasing unease about the opposition.