Gianni Infantino paid tribute to the fans of South America during an address to the CONMEBOL Council, saying they could be relied upon to bring colour and passion to the FIFA World Cup™.

"The fans of Argentina....and all the South Americans countries who took part were incredible -- they are always happy, with lots of colour, lots of passion and with this enthusiasm and desire to follow their national team," he said.

Argentina enjoyed vocal and unrelenting support from a huge contingent of travelling fans on their way to winning the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ in December to claim their third world title. Argentina supporters were honoured with the FIFA Fan Award at The Best FIFA Football Awards™ in Paris in February in recognition of their backing.

The ten member associations of CONMEBOL have pledged their support to Gianni Infantino who will run unopposed for re-election as FIFA President at the 73rd FIFA Congress on March 16. "Thank you for your backing," he said.

Gianni Infantino said that FIFA would keep supporting the development of football in South America and said he was looking forward to the FIFA U-17 World Cup Peru 2023™ in November and December.

“A lot of work is being done….and we are seeing the results," he said. "We at FIFA are proud to keep supporting and participating in the development of football in South America and the rest of the world."

"You know that you can always count on me as President of FIFA and our team here at FIFA, we are here to go forward together,” he added. “CONMEBOL is a very important confederation within FIFA -- 10 countries which have done so much for the history of football.”

“South America has a special place in my heart......for making me fall in love with football."