Belgium Claps Back On Folarin Balogun Red Card Fiasco After Big World Cup Win Over USA

The victorious Belgium team mainly let their skills do the talking at the World Cup after a day of red card suspension controversy, a failed appeal, and the unsurprising intervention of Donald Trump. For some, the 4-1 win Monday over a demolished Christian Pulisic and Team USA in Seattle, WA would have said it all.

Not for the Belgians. Not after today.

Even with FIFA tournament co-host America’s elimination from competition, once the much hyped match was over, the Red Devils dropped the stoic mask. In a short but spiked social media post Belgium et their real feelings be known about the Gianni Infantino-led organization’s last minute and much condemned decision to suspend Team USA star player’s Folarin Balogun’s red card ban.

“Overturn this”

That’s basically all the tweet said, and said it all.

The return of Balogun came in part thanks to a call last week from Trump to his pal Infantino (who is facing growing calls to resign) and then FIFA’s disciplinary panel “independently ​and autonomously” (according to Infantino) allowing the USMNT striker to be eligible to compete in Monday’s  match. After a his foul on defender Tarik Muharemovic during the July 1match against Bosnia-Herzegovina in San Fran, Balogun was sent off the pitch with a red card.

Standard FIFA procedure is that a red card also leaves the player unable to participate in the next scheduled game. For decades that’s been standard FIFA procedure, for the Brooklyn-born and London-raised Balogun (who was also fined $40,000 for celebrating with his teammates after last week’s game) and everyone else — unless the President of the United States decides he thinks its unfair Then, regardless of FIFA Peace Prize winner Trump’s call says Infantino, the little known 18-member FIFA disciplinary committee suddenly said Balogun’s red card game ban would be suspended for a year.

Admitting he asked Infantino for a review of the red card in their call, Trump called the decision “brilliant.”

As UEFA and nations and leagues around the world slagged FIFA’s move,the Royal Belgian Football Association filed an appeal. That appeal was rejected within hours.

The whole situation put a stink on today’s match and revived old calls of corruption and favoritism against FIFA. “This is our sport, not theirs,” ex-Liverpool manager and likely next Germany coach Juergen Klopp said on Monday as it was all going down. “If Donald Trump and Gianni Infantino really sorted this out between themselves, it is madness; it calls everything into ​question. These two people, who know nothing about football, should have absolutely nothing to do with this.”

Earlier in the day,Trump’s White House went full LEGO to claim their master’s own role in an American World Cup win.

As the likes of CNN host Abby Philip mocks the “Trump curse” on-air, there has been radio silence now from the former Apprentice host. Usually very chatty online, Trump is on his new donated Air Force One heading to a NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey — where POTUS will have to sit with fellow attendee Belgium PM Bart De Wever.

Now, with Balogun almost a non-entity in today’s match, and America having nothing more to do with teh World Cup on the pitch, Beligium goes on to play Spain in a quarterfinals match on July 10 at L.A.’s Sofi Stadium. Whether or not, the USA-Canada-Mexico hosted 2026 World Cup keeps pulling in the mega-ratings it has had so far for Fox and Telemundo remains to be seen.