Trump didn’t know what a red card was before Balogun incident

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President Trump says he did not know what a red card in soccer meant before one was handed to U.S. striker Folarin Balogun last week before later being retracted in a highly controversial move that has brought worldwide scrutiny to the North American FIFA World Cup.

“I asked for a review because I didn’t think it was a foul,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday. “And you know, again, I’m good at this stuff.”

The president characterized Balogun’s foul as “two great athletes that crashed into each other and got entangled.”

“I think the referee’s call was horrible, and nobody talks about that. They talk about the red card like it’s fine,” he continued. “Red card, I didn’t know what the hell a red card was, but when I found out I said, ‘You gotta be kidding.'”

Trump said the referee who penalized the USA star athlete was wielding “a lot of power,” adding “but then I looked at his past, and it wasn’t so great.”

FIFA sparked a wave of backlash on Sunday when it reversed Balogun’s red card, making him eligible to play in the U.S.’s round of 16 match-up with Belgium on Monday.

The decision came after Trump called FIFA President Gianni Infantino and pressed him to review the penalty.

The red card had been widely criticized, but the Belgian federation has appealed the decision to reverse it, saying it was “astonished” by FIFA’s ruling on the matter.

It is unclear whether FIFA would consider making a ruling on Belgium’s appeal before Monday’s match kicks off at 8 p.m. EDT in Seattle.

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2026 FIFA World Cup

belgium

FIFA

FIFA World Cup

Folarin Balogun

Gianni Infantino

Gianni Infantino

North American FIFA World Cup

President Trump

Red card

Referee

World Cup

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