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President Donald Trump said Monday that he has asked FIFA to review the decision to give a red card to U.S. men’s soccer team star Folarin Balogun during last week’s victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina in the World Cup knockout stage.
Balogun received the red card after a VAR review for observing a play in which Balogun stepped on a defender’s ankle. He would have been suspended for the team’s match against Belgium but FIFA decided to suspend the one-match ban. A source told Pak Gazette that Trump asked FIFA president Gianni Infantino for the organization to review it.
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President Donald Trump holds a red card during a meeting with FIFA President Gianni Infantino in the Oval Office of the White House, Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2018, in Washington. (Evan Vucci/AP)
Trump addressed the controversy in the Oval Office.
“The only thing I did was ask for a review, because I didn’t think it was a mistake,” the president said. “And again, I’m good at these things. I didn’t think it was a foul. I thought it was two great athletes who ran into each other and got tangled up. It wasn’t a guy punching someone in the face or anything that was different.
“I think it’s terrible… if they hadn’t allowed a top player to play, maybe the best, maybe one of the best on the team, I think it would have been a big stain. I passed it on. I didn’t tell him what to do. I don’t think he made the decision. I think it was a committee that made the decision and made the right decision because, number one, it wasn’t a foul and you want to see a game with your best players.”
Trump said the feeling would be the same if Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo or Harry Kane had received a red card in a similar way.
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Folarin Balogun of the United States celebrates after scoring the USMNT’s third goal in the first half of their Group D group stage match against Paraguay on June 12, 2026 in Inglewood, California. (Kirby Lee/Image Images)
He also took issue with the call itself.
“If you had taken him out, I think it would have really tarnished this incredible championship,” Trump continued. “We have to have our best players and Belgium, by the way, Belgium has a great team. We have our best players and they have to have the best. If we win or lose, it’s fair. Otherwise, let’s say we lost against them, then we lost the game. It would be a terrible thing. I think they made a really brilliant decision.
“I think the referee’s decision was horrible and no one talks about it. They talk about the red card like it’s OK. The referee’s red card decision, I didn’t know what the hell a red card was and when I found out I said, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’… I said, ‘Wow, that’s a lot of power, that’s terrible.’ And then I looked at his past and it wasn’t that good.”
Belgium said it “sent a letter to FIFA requesting a copy of the decision, an explanation of the process followed and setting out its position regarding the applicable regulations.”
“As its only response, FIFA sent a letter to the RBFA indicating that it considered that this correspondence constituted an appeal, that a judge had been appointed and that the RBFA only had a few hours to complete that appeal. FIFA did not provide any information,” the Royal Belgian Football Federation (RBFA) said.
“For an appeal to be admissible, FIFA’s own regulations establish that the reasoned decision must first have been communicated to the appellant. While the RBFA was simply seeking legitimate explanations, FIFA itself filed an appeal and immediately assured that it would be declared inadmissible.”
President Donald Trump, Claudia Sheinbaum, President of Mexico, and Mark Carney, Prime Minister of Canada, pose for a selfie with Gianni Infantino, President of FIFA, during the official draw for the 2026 FIFA World Cup at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC, on December 5, 2025. (Héctor Vivas/FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)
The RBFA added that FIFA has not responded to its requests.
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“Regardless of the sporting outcome of this match, the RBFA is deeply concerned by the course of events and will continue to fight in the coming hours, days and months in defense of the fundamental principles of ethics, fair competition and the interests of football as a whole.”
The United States and Belgium will play in the round of 16 on Monday night at 8 pm ET.
