Wayne Rooney put it plainly: "Infantino, he should be ashamed of this because I think the sportsmanship of this game is in question here." Hard to argue.
Folarin Balogun was sent off in the 64th minute against Bosnia & Herzegovina for stepping on Tarik Muharemović's ankle during the USA's 2-0 win. Automatic one-match ban. He was done for the Belgium knockout tie in Seattle — or so everyone thought. Then Donald Trump held a press conference, revealed he personally called FIFA president Gianni Infantino about the decision, and by Sunday, the ban was gone. Not erased entirely, but placed on a one-year probationary suspension under Article 27 of FIFA's disciplinary code. Reports suggest this is the first time Article 27 has been applied this way since Garrincha in 1962.
Trump's response: "Thank you to FIFA for doing what was right, and reversing a great injustice!"
Everyone is furious — and some of them have standing to act on it
Bosnia's football federation went straight for the nuclear option, posting that "government interference is a violation of FIFA Articles 2 & 15" and calling for the USA's disqualification from the tournament. That's not just venting. If FIFA's own statutes prohibit political interference in football decisions, and a sitting head of state has publicly admitted to lobbying the president of FIFA on a live disciplinary matter, the federation has a legitimate case to put forward — whether FIFA chooses to hear it or not.
Belgium's response was more surgical. The Royal Belgian Football Association formally contested Balogun's eligibility, stating it would challenge his inclusion if he appeared on the referee's team sheet. FIFA shut them down immediately, ruling that "the RBFA is not a party to the proceedings and, as such, has no standing to appeal the decision." Belgium manager Rudi Garcia wasn't impressed: "I didn't know that at the World Cup, the 5th of July is actually the first of April."
UEFA went further, calling the ruling "unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable" — which is a significant escalation given UEFA's usual preference for diplomatic language.
What this actually means on the pitch — and beyond
Balogun plays. That's the bottom line for anyone with skin in the USA vs Belgium market. He's available, he'll almost certainly start, and the USA get their first-choice striker back for their deepest World Cup run in decades. Whether Belgium can challenge that eligibility through any remaining legal avenue before kickoff is unclear, but FIFA's response to the RBFA suggests the door is firmly shut.
The broader damage is harder to price. Infantino insisted that "FIFA's judicial bodies are independent" — a statement that lands differently when the US president has already taken credit for the outcome. The integrity questions won't disappear after this match ends. If anything, a USA deep run from here makes them louder.
"Whether it is or isn't a red card to Balogun is now irrelevant," Bosnia's federation posted. For football's governing body, that might be the most damaging sentence written about it in years.
