FIFA President Gianni Infantino praised the strong commitment of CONMEBOL and its leadership to the global game when he addressed the South American confederation’s 82nd Ordinary Congress in Quito, Ecuador.

Prior to the congress, Mr Infantino met with Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa Azín in the company of CONMEBOL President Alejandro Domínguez and Ecuadorian Football Association President Francisco Egas to discuss football development and the role of the game in fostering unity and opportunities.

“President Noboa (Azín) understands the importance of sport, and I am confident that his energy, vision, and leadership, together with a strong collaboration with FIFA, the Ecuadorian Football Association and CONMEBOL, will help Ecuadorian football reach new heights,” said the FIFA President.

Mr Domínguez presented the FIFA President with a captain’s armband at the start of the Congress and noted “the great transformation in football” during his ten years at the helm of FIFA and encouraged Mr Infantino to run for another term at the top of the organisation.

“We trust that the years ahead of us should continue in that (same) vein and that same transformative policy should still be there,” the CONMEBOL President and FIFA Vice-President said. “All of us present here believe unanimously in your work ethic, and we all appreciate your work ethic. We appreciate your leadership and your ability to transform.”

Addressing the delegates, Mr Infantino praised the “exceptional leadership” of the CONMEBOL President and the ten South American FIFA Member Association presidents and said that the tangible achievements of the confederation in recent years warranted a new motto.

"You should change the CONMEBOL slogan. Instead of 'Dreaming Big', you should use 'Acting Big', because you are already achieving what was once thought possible by some and impossible by others and is now a reality,” he told the delegates.

Looking ahead to the FIFA World Cup 2026™, Mr Infantino emphasised the scale of the upcoming tournament in Canada, Mexico, and the United States.

“This will be the first FIFA World Cup with 48 teams, and also the first FIFA World Cup with six South American countries that will shine with their national teams and the exceptional players you have in South America, and also with their spectacular supporters, who will be part of something spectacular and unique in the world. And we will show them to North America and the entire world,” he said.

"As I usually tell Americans, that’s like 104 Super Bowls in the space of just over a month. Seven million people will fill the stadiums. Six billion people will watch the (FIFA) World Cup from home. The world will come to a standstill and focus its attention on this (FIFA) World Cup," the FIFA President added.

In closing, Mr Infantino called on all football and political leaders to use the game as a messenger for peace.

"We have to bring the world together. We have to bring every country together. We have to bring all the fans together in an atmosphere which, hopefully, will be one of peace, togetherness and unity among nations," he stated.