Trump’s own goal! USA soccer fans blame the President for World Cup humiliation after Folarin Balogun saga
In the wake of their embarrassing World Cup exit, angry USA soccer fans have turned their attention to President Trump following the USA’s 4-1 defeat to Belgium.
On Monday night, the World Cup co-hosts were sent crashing out of the competition after a dismal performance against their European rivals in Seattle.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side had no answer to the Red Devils’ attacking onslaught, led by striker Charles De Ketelaere – who scored twice and set up another on the night.
To add to their misery, the USA’s players and fans could only sit and watch while their Belgian counterparts openly mocked Trump during their on-field celebrations.
However, while some USA fans were incensed over Belgium’s Trump teasing, other supporters actually joined the pile on with vicious comments on social media.
Those fans pointed to Trump’s controversial involvement in the build-up to the game, having called up FIFA President Gianni Infantino to ask for a further review to the one-game ban which was handed to striker Folarin Balogun in their previous game.
Fans have blamed Donald Trump for the USA’s embarrassing World Cup exit on Monday night
Trump sparked controversy after calling up FIFA President Gianni Infantino to ask for a review of a USA star’s red card, which they overturned. However, the USA still lost 4-1 on the day
Infantino, who has become close friends with President Trump, duly obliged and eventually suspended Balogun’s ban – but in the end, it didn’t matter.
Taking to X after the game, one fan wrote: ‘Trump managed to turn a World Cup that was honestly turning into a major US PR victory into a total national humiliation.’
Another wrote: ‘Why Trump’s red card scheme was the worst distraction Team USA could get: Trump made the World Cup all about him just 24 hours before our biggest match ever. No US soccer fan can ever forgive Trump for tarnishing the amazing run of US men’s world cup team.’
‘Trump calling the FIFA president and the US still loses shows you never win when you play dirty,’ another frustrated supporter said on the social media platform.
Similarly, another said: ‘Amazing how the World Cup was doing a legitimately good job of bringing the world together and rehabilitating the USA’s reputation, now all anybody will remember is Trump’s political interference. The world is indeed united, but now it’s against the American cheats. Such a shame.’
‘The best US men’s team ever loses to Belgium. If they’d advanced, there would have been an asterisk next to their victory because of Donald’s interference,’ one fan said.
‘He casts a shadow over everything. He can only win if he cheats, and he thinks that applies to everybody else. Sad,’ they added.
While the majority of fans pointed to Trump’s direct involvement in the USA’s World Cup campaign, others simply noted his terrible track record while attending games.
One fan noted: ‘Cause and effect. Knicks have a historic 13 game postseason winning streak. Trump shows up. Falls asleep. Knicks lose. USMNT in the round of 16. Trump leans on FIFA to vacate the Balogun red card. The team has a nightmare game. Pulisic gets injured,’ they wrote. ‘Everything. Trump. Touches. Dies’.
Furious fans ran to social media to poke fun at President Trump’s involvement in the matter
The USA squad huddle on the field to hear from coach Pochettino after being dumped out
Within 20 minutes of the final whistle, Belgium’s X account posted, ‘Overturn this,’ alongside a photo of Romelu Lukaku celebrating scoring the team’s fourth goal in the final minutes of the game.
It was a savage nod to FIFA’s decision to suspend Balogun’s ban at the apparent behest of the President.
To add insult to injury, Belgium’s stars performed the ‘Trump dance’ – the hand-jerking, hip-shimmying moves made famous by the President during his 2024 election campaign – following Lukaku’s goal.
The Red Devils were seen on the broadcast gathering in a circle at the goalline and mimicking the moves following the stoppage-time strike.
Trump is understood to have called FIFA president Infantino three times, starting the day after Balogun received a red card in the US game against Bosnia on July 1.
FIFA subsequently decided to suspend Balogun’s automatic one-match ban for a year, without explaining why – causing outrage.
Belgium could not resist mocking the USA after Florian Balogun’s red card controversy
Trump insists he did not know what a red card was – even though he was photographed with one at the White House during a meeting with Infantino in 2018 – but ‘asked for a review by FIFA’ after learning that Balogun would miss last night’s clash against Belgium.
The US President said: ‘He gave him a red card, I didn’t know what that meant. Then I started hearing that means he can’t play in the next game. I said, ‘Boy, that’s big’. You know, if it happened to another player it would’ve been unfair.
‘But when they take your best player, or just about… and they say you can’t play, that’s very unfair.
‘It’s one thing to penalise someone for a game. But how do you penalise them for a game they haven’t even played yet? It’s very unfair. You can’t do that. I spoke to Gianni. I asked for a review by FIFA. I’m good at this stuff – that wasn’t a foul.’
