Two nations have blinked. New Zealand and France have both confirmed they'll compete at next month's FIFA Under-20 Women's World Cup in Poland, making them the first to publicly commit to a tournament that has become the unlikely flashpoint of the biggest governance crisis in world football.
"The tournament is critical in the development for the women's game," New Zealand Football's spokesperson told Reuters. Hard to argue with that logic — and harder still to tell a generation of young players their World Cup is cancelled over a boardroom dispute they had nothing to do with.
What's actually at stake here
This is the first FIFA competition since UEFA's 55 member associations voted unanimously to support a boycott of FIFA events — a response to Gianni Infantino's proposal to sell 20% of World Cup commercial rights to private investors for roughly $4.2 billion. He then abandoned the plan. The damage was already done.
UEFA hasn't softened. Last week the federation restated its position bluntly: the conditions for participation "have not been met" and it has "lost confidence in Gianni Infantino's presidency." That's not a warning shot — that's a declaration.
And yet France are in. New Zealand are in. England's FA and Canada Soccer declined to comment, while U.S. Soccer is expected to attend without officially saying so. The boycott, at least for this tournament, appears to be fragmenting before it's truly begun.
Women's football caught in the crossfire
The timing is particularly uncomfortable. Women's football has the most to lose if this escalates. Beyond Poland, FIFA's Under-17 Women's World Cup is scheduled for October in Morocco. European qualifying for the 2027 Women's World Cup in Brazil is already underway, with nations like England — runners-up at the last tournament — having matches locked in.
A Reuters source close to the weekend confederation talks acknowledged there may need to be discussions about "alternative tournaments" if the standoff deepens. Those talks haven't happened yet. Whether they need to depends entirely on how many more nations follow France and New Zealand's lead in the coming days.
Poland, for its part, says preparations are on schedule and it has received "no information regarding the potential withdrawal of any team." The tournament starts in September. The clock is running.
