Trump-backed FIFA reversal clears Balogun for Belgium clash

President Donald Trump said he saw the play, called FIFA president Gianni Infantino and asked for a review of Folarin Balogun’s red card, setting off an unusual disciplinary reversal that cleared the U.S. striker for Belgium.

Trump said he did not think the challenge was a foul and called the referee’s red-card decision “horrible,” but said he left the final outcome to FIFA. He later praised the ruling as correcting a “great injustice.”

Balogun was sent off in the United States men’s national soccer team’s Round of 32 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina, a dismissal that initially carried an automatic one-match suspension. FIFA’s disciplinary committee then suspended that ban, making Balogun eligible for the Round of 16 knockout match against Belgium in Seattle on Monday, July 6, 2026.

FIFA’s own World Cup regulations say a player sent off by direct red card is automatically suspended for the next match. The move marked the first time since 1962 that FIFA had nullified a World Cup suspension for a red card.

Belgian soccer authorities challenged Balogun’s eligibility and said FIFA had not given them a clear explanation for the change. The Royal Belgian Football Association said it had not received a decision or explanation, while UEFA called the move “unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable” and said it had “crossed a red line.”