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‘overturn this’
The rest of the world is on their feet for Belgium and the poetic justice they doled out last night.
The Red Devils may not be a patch on their golden generation of prime Hazards, Mertens, and De Bruynes from the 2010s, but they had all the smoke for the host nation anyway.
Clearly amped up by the political shenanigans leading up to the tie, they strolled to an easy 4-1 thrashing, rubbing it in on socials, doing the Trump dance on the pitch, and generally revelling in what many viewers said was karma playing out in real time.
If you hadn’t seen, US striker Folarin Balogun was effectively pardoned by Trump and FIFA boss Infantino after receiving a red card in the previous game against Bosnia.
Overturn this. 🧏♂️ #USABEL pic.twitter.com/KcBAJp3Z7d
— Belgian Red Devils (@BelRedDevils) July 7, 2026
He, like everyone else who received a red card in the round of 32, was facing suspension in the round of 16 clash against Belgium. That is, until Trump muscled his way into proceedings and got on the blower to the FIFA boss.
In a public address, Trump explained that he hadn’t realised a red card prevented a player from playing the next game, and personally requested that Balogun have his suspension effectively chalked off.
Infantino seemingly obeyed, later claiming that FIFA’s independent panel of decision makers had been reviewing Balogun’s red card anyway. Unsurprisingly, they failed to send records of this decision making process to Belgium when requested though.
Technically, Balogun’s suspension was itself suspended – for a year – on the little-known grounds of ‘article 37,’ an article which conveniently made its first appearance as soon as the US talisman ruled himself out of contention.
UEFA responded by calling the whole thing ‘unprecedented, incomprehensible, and unjustifiable.’ Jurgen Klopp also had his say, stating: ‘This is our sport, not theirs.’ ‘If Donald Trump and Gianni Infantino really sorted this out between themselves, it is madness; it calls everything into question.’
Senior MPs, campaigners, and David Bernstein, the former FA chairman, have since called for Infantino to resign on the grounds that he and Trump brought the integrity of the game into disrepute and social media is baying for their heads too.
The lack of sportsmanship and honour shown from both of these men isn’t surprising. FairSquare filed an ethics complaint about both men cosying up long before the tournament, and Infantino is widely thought to have breached FIFA’s neutrality rules by awarding the President the institution’s inaugural Peace Prize.
Still followed around by the stink of FIFAgate, and the shambles of Qatar 2022, the Balogun stuff may seem trivial in comparison, but it points to a new level of brazenness where both men are happy to throw their weight around and cheat the system out in the open.
Trump obviously doesn’t give a shit. You can probably expect tariffs to go up on waffles or something in the coming week.
takin’ names, cashin’ cheques
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