Infinity is an abstraction. The universe cannot be "infinite" in the mathematical sense, as the mathematical infinity is an abstraction. The only meaningful question is "is mathematical infinity required to produce good models of the universe/physics?" and the answer so far is "no". We use infinity because it is convenient, but it is not really needed.
There is no reason to think that "infinity" will be essential to describing the universe any more than any other possible abstraction that we have not so far constructed.
There is no reason to think that "infinity" will be essential to describing the universe any more than any other possible abstraction that we have not so far constructed.