Luis Figo and Michael van Praag are set to withdraw from the race for FIFA president, leaving Prince Ali Bin Al-Hussein to battle current incumbent Sepp Blatter, according to reports from the Netherlands.
Dutch paper De Volkskrant, citing sources close to FIFA, claims that Van Praag, the president of the Dutch FA (KNVB), and former Portugal international Figo will step aside in order to put their support behind the Jordanian after meeting in Geneva last week.
A source close Van Praag did not rule out the merger, telling Worldfootballinsider: "We can confirm that there have been discussions between the candidates regarding the possibility to join forces.
"Our shared, collective goal is to achieve change within FIFA. It is good that there is a growing international coalition striving for that goal. That is our main focus now. It is too soon to talk about which candidate might have the biggest chance."
A spokesman for Figo denied the former Ballon d'Or winner would be in the Netherlands to take part in a joint news conference with Van Praag on Thursday, but stopped short of denying the report outright.
"We reiterate what we said on the first day," the spokesman told Reuters. "Luis is an independent candidate and he will keep being independent. He will not travel to Holland, contrary to what the rumours say."
FIFA vice-president Prince Ali decided to challenge Blatter in January 2015 and has gathered more support from the 209 FIFA countries than any of the others.
But the 79-year-old Blatter, who is looking to secure his fifth term, is still favourite to win the vote, with the Confederation of African Football [CAF] already revealing that they will put all 54 member nations behind him.
In total, 105 votes are needed to secure a win, with the decision set to be announced in Zurich on May 29.