Belgium fans react to President Trump and FIFA revoking Balogun’s red card
Belgian fans watching the World Cup matches have shared their disappointment with FIFA and Donald Trump’s response to the revocation of Folarin Balogun’s red card.
take sports seriously
White House deputy press secretary Khush Desai recently dismissed the irony of President Donald Trump’s insistence on reversing Folarin Balogun’s suspension, saying he believes the men’s national soccer team star would not have been able to play without his birthright citizenship.
“I would say this is kind of a stupid observation,” Desai said on Monday, July 6, The Hill reported. “What the president regularly touts is the fact that there are no restrictions on birthright citizenship.”
According to a 2023 ESPN profile, Balogun was born in New York City when his Nigerian-born mother, who was living in London at the time, was unable to catch a flight home because she was pregnant.
Balogun and his mother returned to the United Kingdom shortly after his birth, and the striker, an American citizen by birth, eventually decided to play for the United States men’s national team.
Desai’s comments came hours before the U.S. men’s national team was set to play Belgium in Seattle for a spot in the FIFA World Cup quarterfinals. Belgium defeated the United States 4-1, eliminating the hosts from the tournament.
A game full of cards
The lead up to the match was fraught with controversy, stemming from FIFA’s decision to overturn Balogun’s red card suspension.
Balogun was sent off for kicking Bosnia and Herzegovina defender Tarik Muharemovic in the leg in the 64th minute of the game, which the United States won in the Round of 32. The red card resulted in a one-match suspension for the next match, with no appeal procedure taking place.
However, Balogun’s suspension was handed down by the FIFA Disciplinary Committee the day before the USMNT played Belgium.
Following the decision, President Trump said he had asked FIFA President Gianni Infantino to review the controversial red card.
President Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on July 6, “I asked for a review of everything I did because I didn’t think it was foul.” “I saw the play, and I love sports and I’m a good athlete. I understand sports very well. And it wasn’t a foul. It wasn’t even a violation.”
President Trump and birthright citizenship
Immigrant rights advocates point out that only birthright citizenship qualifies Balogun to play for the United States.
“Thanks to the 14th Amendment, Team USA made it to the Round of 16 at the 2026 World Cup,” Michelle Lapointe, legal director for the American Immigration Council, said in a July 2 online post.
Even after the Supreme Court struck down President Trump’s executive order to end birthright citizenship, the president continued to call for an end to the practice. House Speaker Mike Johnson claimed in an interview with Fox News that Congressional Republicans are “looking at all angles” to remove restrictions on birthright citizenship after the Supreme Court protected it from President Trump’s order redefining who is an American.
“If there is any legal amendment, we will move forward with it immediately,” Johnson said. “With a constitutional amendment, you know, it takes a little bit more time. But we have to deal with this.”
While that promise is certainly not empty, it is highly unlikely that Congress will intervene to curtail birthright citizenship in the near future.
“If the Supreme Court had agreed with the Trump administration in its birthright citizenship decision this week, the future Mr. Balogun would not have been considered a U.S. citizen,” Lapointe continued.
Contributors: Jon Arnold, Aysha Bagchi, Zachary Schermele, and Joey Garrison, USA TODAY
Fernando Cervantes Jr. is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Contact us at fernando.cervantes@gannett.com and follow us at X @fern_cerv_.
