NOW PLAYING
The World Cup clash on Monday night between the U.S. and Belgium will fall against a backdrop of international anger after FIFA revoked the suspension of a star American striker following an inquiry by President Trump.
FIFA suspended the red card for Folarin Balogun, which would have led to a one-game ban, after Trump urged the head of FIFA to intervene against a widely panned red card.
It’s now the biggest story in politics and sports ahead of Monday night’s big game.
Here are five things to know.
Trump at the center of red card controversy
Both the president and head of FIFA have confirmed they spoke in recent days about the red card handed down to Balogun, which came in the second half of the U.S.’s win against Bosnia-Herzegovina and was widely seen as a bad call.
On Sunday, FIFA said the red card would be suspended, allowing Balogun to play.
That decision sparked an outcry from Belgium and many voices in Europe after Trump acknowledged his intervention.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino, who has frequently appeared with Trump over the past year and who awarded the president with a peace prize at one point, defended his federation’s decision in a statement, saying it was “independent” of Trump or other concerns about officiating raised by fans in the U.S. and across the globe.
“I read the decisions of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee when they are issued. Sometimes I am surprised by them. Sometimes I agree with them, and sometimes I disagree,” he said. “What I always do, however, is respect those decisions and the autonomy of the bodies that make them. Whether we personally like a decision or not is irrelevant. Respect for independent institutions and the rule of law is what protects the integrity of our competitions and the credibility of FIFA at all times.”
Trump during a news conference on Monday said the decision to give Balogun a red card was “horrible” and criticized the referee who awarded it.
“I’m a person that loves sports and was a good athlete. And I understand sports really well — really well — and that wasn’t a foul,” Trump told reporters. “So yes, I asked for a review by FIFA. I spoke to a man who’s highly respected … and he was good before this started. But, you know, he really pushed it in this country, and I’m the one that got them to do it.”
Trump also said that if Belgium defeated the U.S. with Balogun playing, it would beat the best the U.S. had to offer. If Belgium won with Balogun suspended, he said it would be seen as “rigged,” just like the 2020 election that Trump has repeatedly, and falsely, said he won.
World soccer community enraged with FIFA
News of FIFA suspending the red card given to Balogun sent a shockwave across the international football community on Sunday.
The Belgian soccer federation said it was “astonished” by the decision and filed a formal appeal with FIFA, which it denied on Monday afternoon, saying Belgium was “not a party to the proceedings and, as such, has no standing to appeal the decision.”
The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), the largest governing body for soccer in Europe, expressed “disbelief at such an unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable decision,” saying it “crossed a red line.”
Former FIFA President Joseph Blatter, who faced allegations of corruption during his own tenure leading the federation, insisted in a social media post that soccer “must never become a playground for political power.”
“Red cards are not overturned by political phone calls,” Blatter said. “They are overturned by rules, evidence and independent bodies. If a U.S. President intervenes with the FIFA President — and a player is suddenly cleared before a World Cup knockout match — the question is unavoidable: Quo vadis, FIFA?
FIFA has historically faced scrutiny for what critics say is collusion with powerful host nations that put profits first and capitulation to world leaders accused of wrongdoing.
Infantino has in recent months gone to great lengths to shore up FIFA’s relationship with the Trump administration ahead of what is expected to be the most commercially successful World Cup it has put on in history.
“FIFA’s judicial bodies are independent,” FIFA’s top leader insisted on Monday. “They operate autonomously, apply the FIFA Disciplinary Code, and decide cases based on the applicable regulations and the specific facts before them. Their independence is essential to the credibility and integrity of football, and this must always be respected.”
MAGA celebrates Trump’s influence
As soon as last week’s U.S. win against Bosnia-Herzegovina concluded, a team of top Trump administration officials reportedly began preparing a legal challenge to the red card given to Balogun.
Trump initially contacted Infantino to learn more about the process for reviewing a penalty after the fact, White House officials have said, and pressed him specifically about the use of slow-motion replay in making the call.
Supporters of the president have celebrated Balogun’s reinstatement and mocked those blasting the president as reflexively opposed to his involvement in anything.
“If your brain is broken by politics so much that you aren’t happy Balogun is playing, and you’re an American citizen, you should be deported,” Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy wrote in a post on the social platform X.
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), in a social media post of his own, said, “I admit that I’m not the biggest soccer fan, but I’m glad President Trump urged FIFA to do the right thing.”
“Good for President Trump, good for Folarin Balogun, good for the USA,” he continued. “I wish liberals could put their country ahead of their politics just once, but I guess that’s asking too much. Let’s join together tonight and cheer our team on to victory.”
Balogun’s immigration status a flash point
Some critics of the administration have pointed to what they say is a paradox in that Balogun, who was born in New York to Nigerian parents, could have been negatively impacted by Trump’s immigration efforts.
Balogun’s history as a birthright citizen added another layer to the political dynamics surrounding the red card controversy, which came days after Trump’s high-profile Supreme Court loss in his attempt to eliminate the right to citizenship for those born on U.S. soil.
“The irony of Trump calling FIFA to overturn a red card for Balogun because he knows the U.S. can’t win without Balogun, who only qualifies for the U.S. team because of birthright citizenship, which Trump just tried to overturn,” journalist and author Julia Ioffe commented.
Unlike Balogun, several members of the U.S. national team were born outside the U.S., which The Wall Street Journal recently pointed out in an editorial “is the product in part of America’s historically welcoming immigration system and automatic grant of birthright citizenship to children born in the U.S.”
“America’s World Cup men’s team shows again how bringing in foreign talent can be a win for the individuals and for the country,” wrote the Journal, which has been critical of Trump for years and is owned by conservative media mogul Rupert Murdoch, who also owns a U.S. World Cup broadcast partner in Fox Sports.
Oddsmakers say U.S. vs. Belgium a coin flip
Even before the controversy over Balogun’s red card broke out, Monday’s match-up between the United States and Belgium was expected to be a close one.
The U.S., which features a relatively young roster, has been victorious in all but one of the matches it has played in the tournament so far.
Belgium, in contrast, has looked sluggish at points on the pitch and needed a second-half comeback against Senegal to punch its ticket to the round of 16 last week.
Some major sportsbooks have the U.S. as a slight favorite to defeat Belgium, while others list the match-up at closer to a “pick ‘em,” or 50 percent chance of going either way.
BetMGM said as of Monday afternoon it had taken seven times more bets on the U.S. winning outright than any of the other four teams playing on Monday, and it has taken twice as many bets on Balogun and Christian Pulisic to score than any other players in the two matches.
Spain also plays Portugal on Monday, and the winner will face the U.S. or Belgium on Friday.
Balogun’s reinstatement had an impact on the betting markets, giving the slight edge to the Americans on home soil.
“We did expect to see a lot of action on these matches because so many of these games are in primetime,” one official at BetMGM told The Hill. “We saw the match as a coin flip when Balogun was ruled ineligible to play … with him now scheduled to play, they’ve moved to +140 and are now considered a slight favorite based on the way he’s looked so far.”
Add as preferred source on Google Tags Gianni InfantinoCopyright 2026 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Comments: Link copiedMore Sports & Gaming News
See All
Sports & Gaming FIFA denies Belgium’s appeal after reversing red card against Balogun by Dominick Mastrangelo 2 hours ago Sports & Gaming / 2 hours ago 
