The Oceania Football Confederation has backed Gianni Infantino's bid for re-election as FIFA President ©Getty Images

The Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) has endorsed Gianni Infantino's bid for re-election as FIFA President.

OFC President Lambert Maltock has pledged the region's unanimous support for Infantino, who so far faces no challengers in next year's election.

Maltock made the pledge at the OFC Congress in Auckland, which was attended by Infantino.

"For all you have done for football in Oceania and for our 11 member associations, and for bringing the most prestigious FIFA Women's World Cup to this part of the world, to New Zealand in the southern hemisphere, to our world, we would like to announce officially our unanimous support for your nomination," Maltock said.

The Confederation of African Football, South American Football Confederation and Asian Football Confederation have all already endorsed Infantino.

If their members and the OFC vote for Infantino en masse, he would be assured of re-election even if a rival stood against the Swiss-Italian official at the FIFA Congress in Rwanda on March 16.

Infantino was first elected FIFA President in February 2016 in the wake of the corruption scandal which brought down predecessor Sepp Blatter.  

The expanded men's FIFA World Cup guarantees the Oceania Football Confederation a place ©Getty Images
The expanded men's FIFA World Cup guarantees the Oceania Football Confederation a place ©Getty Images

The 52-year-old, who is now an International Olympic Committee member, then won a second term when he stood unopposed for re-election at a Congress in Paris in 2019.   

Infantino's tenure as President has included the men's FIFA World Cup expanding to 48 teams from 2026.  

The expanded tournament means the OFC is guaranteed at least one World Cup berth.

Next year's FIFA Women's World Cup, in New Zealand and Australia, will be the first to feature 32 teams rather than 24.

Debate over staging the World Cup every two years has been one of the dominant themes of Infantino's second term as President, as well as this year's contentious men's tournament in Qatar which has been moved from its traditional slot in the northern hemisphere's summer because of climate concerns.

The idea of biennial World Cups has lost momentum and Infantino has sought in recent months to distance himself and FIFA from the idea, formally proposed by Saudi Arabia but which Infantino was on record as offering support for.