After all the talk and debate about Donald Trump calling FIFA to overturn Folarin Balogun's sanction, it did not matter as USA were battered by Belgium 4-1, now eliminating all World Cup 2026 hosts in round of 16.
The dust hadn't settled after the exchange of statements, from UEFA and the Royal Belgian Football Association condemning FIFA's decision, to FIFA's response saying that according to Article 27, the FIFA Disciplinary Committee has the discretion to suspend the implementation of any disciplinary measures, and that overturning red cards is common in European leagues.
In the end, it was Belgium who laughed the most after the match, with the X account of the Belgian national team posting "Overturn this" and the Belgian players mimicking the Trump dance celebrating Lukaku's goal in injury time.
After the match, Belgian midfielder Nicolas Raskin said that "there was a sense of injustice within the squad, and we were determined to respond on the field", while captain Youri Tielemens said that "we told ourselves we had to respond on the pitch. That's what we did".
