The encounter comes at a time when Egypt is proposing to pair with Saudi Arabia to bid for the 2030 FIFA World Cup, and is the latest of several meetings between Infantino and the Crown Prince. 

Saudi Arabia has sought to establish itself as a host of major events in recent years and the FIFA World Cup is believed to be a long-term goal.

A 2030 bid with Italy was previously mooted, but Italy has since pivoted its attention to the 2032 European Championship.

Egypt has positioned itself to fill the void after a meeting of the two countries' Sports Ministers, Ashraf Sobhi and Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal, who is also the President of the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee.

"We seek to organise the FIFA World Cup and we are studying well the idea of submitting an application to host it in 2030 so that we do not repeat what happened in 2010," Sobhi told state-owned Egyptian publication Akhbar El Yom.

Sobhi added that talks were underway Saudi Arabia as well as Greece over potentially co-hosting the World Cup.

Egypt bid for the 2010 FIFA World Cup - the only time the tournament has been held in Africa - but lost to South Africa.

Saudi Arabia is due to host the Asian Games for the first time in capital Riyadh in 2034 after bidding for a flurry of sporting events.

Riyadh is also due to host next year's World Combat Games and the 2025 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games.

Saudi Arabia is additionally bidding for the 2029 Asian Winter Games, proposing to stage the event in Trojena, a ski resort which has not yet been built and is part of the massive Neom construction project.

In football, Saudi Arabia has bid for the 2027 Asian Cup and 2026 Women's Asian Cup.

It is also now a Formula One Grand Prix host and has carved out influence in the esports world.

Yesterday's fight between Olympic gold medallists Usyk of Ukraine and Britain's Joshua was one of several professional boxing events to have taken place in Saudi Arabia, while the state-owned Public Investment Fund has made high-profile investments in sport overseas.

Purchasing English Premier League club Newcastle United and bankrolling LIV Golf, a new tour which offers increased prize money and has attracted dozens of the world's best players, are two examples.

Critics of the regime have accused Saudi Arabia of sportswashing and seeking to distract from its record on human rights, including the state-ordered assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Saudi Arabia's role in the bombing in Yemen, harsh restrictions in place on women's rights and its use of the death penalty. 

Infantino has met Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince several times before and a comparison has been drawn to Infantino's relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Swiss official - who is an International Olympic Committee (IOC) member - sat between the two world leaders at the opening match of the 2018 World Cup between Russia and Saudi Arabia in Moscow.

Infantino and Putin later watched the final alongside IOC President Thomas Bach, French President Emmanuel Macron and then-Croatian Prime Minister Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, who is now an IOC member and chair of the Future Host Commission.

Russia has largely been frozen out of world sport, including being suspended from FIFA competitions, in response to the war in Ukraine.

In March this year, shortly after Russia launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Infantino visited Saudi Arabia for talks with the Crown Prince, the Sports Minister and the Saudi Arabia Football Federation President.

FIFA said at the time the meeting was "to review areas of cooperation and potential opportunities for further development of Saudi football".

Infantino also visited Saud Arabia in 2021. 

In May 2021, Saudi Arabia formally proposed holding the FIFA World Cup every two years, rather than every four years.

The plan generated strong opposition, notably from UEFA and the IOC, and momentum behind it has now stalled.

Infantino has since sought to distance himself from the proposal, claiming at this year's FIFA Congress that "FIFA has not proposed a biennial World Cup" and only wanted to study its feasibility.

The FIFA President was previously on record as saying biennial World Cups "would work" and lead to international matches having a "greater impact".

FIFA had claimed staging World Cups every two years would deliver an additional $4.4 billion (£3.2 billion/€3.9 billion) in revenue in the first four-year cycle, after calling a global summit to talk about the proposal.

If Saudi Arabia and Egypt were to launch a joint campaign for the 2030 World Cup, they would face opposition from a Spain and Portugal bid, plus a four-country proposal put together by Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Paraguay.