President Donald Trump said Monday he personally asked FIFA president Gianni Infantino to review the red card that was shown to U.S. men’s national team forward Folarin Balogun during Wednesday’s World Cup victory over Bosnia-Herzegovina. A review that resulted in the suspension being overturned.
FIFA announced Sunday it had suspended Balogun’s automatic one-match ban, paving the way for him to play against a powerhouse Belgium squad in Monday night’s Round of 16 match in Seattle.
“All I did was ask for a review. I didn’t say, ‘You have to do this,’” Trump told reporters during a Monday morning White House press briefing.
Trump, like many soccer fans, argued Balogun’s on-ball challenge did not warrant a red card. However, unlike nearly all soccer fans, Trump apparently had the power to influence a reversal that could have significant consequences for Monday evening’s match.
“I didn’t think it was a foul,” Trump said. “I thought it was two great athletes that crashed into each other and got entangled.”
Cruz: On behalf of all Americans, thank you for getting rid of that ridiculous red card. President Trump: That was interesting. Cruz: It was spectacular. There was a reason the FIFA trophy sat here for as long as it did pic.twitter.com/LoCwAvWLuu
— Acyn (@Acyn) July 6, 2026
Balogun opened the scoring in the U.S.’s 2-0 win before being sent off of the pitch in the 64th minute following a VAR review for an aggressive challenge on Bosnia-Herzegovina defender Tarik Muharemovic.
Trump said that he initially didn’t understand what a red card meant but decided to intervene after learning it would sideline Balogun, the U.S.’ top goal scorer during the tournament, against Belgium.
“That’s very unfair,” Trump said. “How do you penalize them for a game that hasn’t been played?”
The TV personality-turned president also cited the Nielsen ratings for the World Cup broadcasts.
“This isn’t just a success, I actually said, Gianni, we’ve got all these games, each one is turning out to be a Super Bowl,” Trump said. “It’s not our main sport, to put it mildly, and this has been four times more successful, he told me last night the numbers are four times greater. They think 50 or 60 million people are going to be watching the game tonight.”
The Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA) has since appealed FIFA’s decision to reverse the red card ruling, while UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) said on its website the ruling “crossed a line.” Any appeal would need to be resolved before kickoff Monday night. As of publication time, Belgium has not been successful in its appeal.
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