The World Cup is in turmoil after reports that Donald Trump personally intervened to put pressure on FIFA to overturn a match ban that would have meant striker Folarin Balogun would miss Tuesday’s knockout USA v Belgium match.
This stems from a red card Balogun received in the team’s win over Bosnia and Herzegovina. Under FIFA rules, a player receiving a red card and being sent off by the referee means (as per USA Today), “he also sits out the team’s next match automatically, no matter what round it is.” Balogun’s red card was awarded by the match referee, and that decision was verified using VAR.
Now, as reported by The Guardian, their sources say that Trump has made three calls to FIFA pressuring them to allow Balogun to play. FIFA has now agreed to Trump’s demands, saying that Balogun will instead be on a one-year probationary period and, if he commits “another infringement of a similar nature and gravity,” he will then serve his one-match ban.
Trump commented on the situation in a celebratory mood, writing, “Thank you to Fifa for doing what was right, and reversing a great injustice!”
The Royal Belgian Football Association has said they’re “astonished” at this development, arguing that this is in direct contravention of FIFA rules. They say they’re “investigating all potential options”, which at its most extreme would see the Belgian team refusing to play against the USA and intentionally forfeiting the match in protest. Belgium’s manager, Rudi Garcia, summed up the mood: “I didn’t know that 5 July was equal to 1 April at FIFA.”
“This is a lose-lose situation for Team USA now”
The reaction from the soccer community on social media – even among USMNT fans – isn’t positive. For example, USMNT supporter and journalist Cyrus Jansson said:
“This is a lose-lose situation for Team USA now. We beat Belgium and the victory will be tainted as we needed our President to cheat to help us win. If we lose than even our President cheating couldn’t help us win.”
UEFA, the body governing European football, has dubbed the move as “unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable” and says “the integrity of the game is at stake”:
UEFA has labeled FIFA's decision to allow Florian Balogun to play against Belgium at the World Cup "unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable" 👀 pic.twitter.com/Z4sBbRkKgK
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) July 6, 2026
USA v Belgium kicks off at 8 pm ET at Lumen Field in Seattle.
Published: Jul 6, 2026 05:41 am