![\"Folarin](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2284974382-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\n Folarin Balogun shoots and misses against Belgium\u2019s Maxim De Cuyper (5) and Brandon Mechele (4). Balogun was unable to make a big impact in a 4-1 defeat (Carl Recine \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Five days earlier, Balogun had received a red card and automatic suspension during a victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was a harsh penalty for an incidental boot to an opponent\u2019s ankle, and it reeked of video-assisted overreach. So Trump called and leaned on FIFA president Gianni Infantino. By Sunday, FIFA had made an automatic suspension that occurred during the World Cup disappear, something that hadn\u2019t happened in 64 years.<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t overturned; that would have required admitting an error. The suspension was put on suspension, through the magic of a clause buried in the organization\u2019s disciplinary code. Initially, FIFA announced the decision in such a skeletal manner that the world knew it was hiding a body. On match day, Trump stood before reporters at the White House, and after trying to deflect his role, he talked until it was clear that he applied pressure. And maybe he was righting a wrong. But he did so wrongfully. Do the math, and it adds up to another moral dilemma that took the sunshine out of a good thing.<\/p>\n
Thanks for the assist, Mr. President.<\/p>\n
It was no favor at all. His intervention enraged the competition and turned many American fans into hypocrites. It didn\u2019t matter to most of us that we would\u2019ve also exploded with righteous indignation if Belgium had been in this position and had a star\u2019s suspension nullified after a nudge from Prime Minister Bart De Wever. How many times have we condemned judging corruption in Olympic boxing or figure skating or gymnastics? Do we ever ignore corrupt doping adjudication and abstain from hard questions about integrity?<\/p>\n
Yet there was no room for awareness, not with a chance to advance to a World Cup quarterfinal for only the third time. We just wanted to close our eyes and cheer loudly. But in hindsight, were some of those screams intended to drown out the ethical quandary?<\/p>\n
Trump wasn\u2019t the savior that Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) proclaimed him to be when he said to the president Monday, \u201cOn behalf of all Americans, thank you for getting rid of that ridiculous red card.\u201d Nor were the other U.S. officials who spent multiple days threatening bulldog legal tactics. Yes, history shows us that FIFA is corrupt and susceptible to manipulation. However, that shouldn\u2019t be an excuse for world leaders to circumvent a system and recreate fair play in their own image. FIFA can keep downplaying the importance of Trump\u2019s call to Infantino, but the president likes wielding power too much to do the same.<\/p>\n
The president didn\u2019t rescue Balogun. He didn\u2019t give the U.S. greater odds to win. He didn\u2019t fix the tournament by correcting a mistake. He repossessed the World Cup. He made Balogun, whose class and character represented the entire squad, the face of a fix. He helped create the snooty American attitude that gave Belgium a motivational boost.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn recent days, we have been shown a lack of respect here in the U.S.,\u201d Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois said afterward. \u201cIt was said that they could beat us easily, but I think today we proved that we are a good team. We played a great match.\u201d<\/p>\n
The match unfolded in a series of cruelties. Charles De Ketelaere scored in the ninth minute, off a ball the U.S. should have cleared. Malik Tillman\u2019s deflected free kick briefly evened the score, but 61 seconds after the restart, De Ketelaere ripped the wound again. U.S. goalkeeper Matt Freese gifted the third goal with a stupefying mistake, and several Red Devils gathered in a circle, clenched their fists and jerked their arms back in forth, appearing to troll Tump with his signature dance move. In stoppage time, Romelu Lukaku scored and blew kisses to the Belgium section in the crowd of 66,925.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think today we didn\u2019t show our real quality,\u201d U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino said. \u201cWe were never connected with the manner of the game.\u201d<\/p>\n
A few seconds before that final embarrassment, Pochettino had substituted Haji Wright for Balogun. The crowd could muster only soft applause at that point. A real dream had devolved into a real pain. After all that controversy, Balogun had little impact because the entire team looked like a disheveled mess.<\/p>\n
Perhaps the Red Devils would\u2019ve won without the drama. They were sharper, deeper, hungrier. But the U.S. arrived carrying something heavier than the pressure to make the quarterfinal, and it showed.<\/p>\n
A day earlier, a large part of the American fandom celebrated the reversal as a win. When Trump revealed his role, it was dismissed as an art-of-the-deal footnote and justified as simply the president fighting for us. It was jingoism cloaked in a replica jersey: America got its way because America is great, and there\u2019s nothing wrong with using strength to bend rules that appear unjust. The rest of the world saw it differently, and all of a sudden, the World Cup was back in the trepidatious place it started, facing a battle between globalism and America\u2019s nasty strand of nationalism.<\/p>\n
USA’s dreams come to an end in the round of 16<\/p>\n
Tom Bogert and Lia Griffin<\/p>\n
In America, we spent a few weeks as a soccer nation and a few days as a team everyone else on earth hoped would lose.<\/p>\n
The beginning was worth it. The ending was unbearable.<\/p>\n
\u201cOverturn this,\u201d Belgium tweeted after the match on its official social media account.<\/p>\n
Balogun deserved better than to be a vessel for controversy. He deserved better when he was suspended. He deserved better when he was at the center of a messy reinstatement. He was a victim, not a villain. And to the end, he never lost himself.<\/p>\n
After the defeat, Balogun approached Belgium coach Rudi Garcia and spoke with him for several minutes. It was a quiet moment of sportsmanship, a polite moment despite Garcia\u2019s public stance against him getting to play.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really liked that,\u201d Garcia said of the conversation. \u201cIt\u2019s not his fault. He\u2019s not the one to blame. And that\u2019s what I told him. I really appreciate the intention that he came to see me. I appreciate this player.\u201d<\/p>\n
Soon after, Balogun took that slow walk to the locker room. He was alone, finally. He didn\u2019t get a say in this fiasco, didn\u2019t ask for a solid. He just got the bill.<\/p>\n
And the country cheered and accepted uncomfortable justice before checking the price. It was steep. The hypocrisy cost us more than the disappointment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SEATTLE \u2014 With pink cleats in his left hand, Folarin Balogun took a long, solitary trudge out of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27125,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4],"tags":[7,898,3937,506,3577,3934,4097],"class_list":["post-27124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-belgium","tag-belgium","tag-culture","tag-fifa-mens-world-cup","tag-international-football","tag-opinion","tag-soccer","tag-us-mens-national-team"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@be\/116878175593831083","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27124","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27124"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27124\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27125"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}