When United States’s Folarin Balogun was sent off against Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Round of 32 in the 2026 ongoing World Cup, almost everyone assumed he would automatically miss the Round of 16 against Belgium.

Under normal circumstances, they were absolutely right.

So what changed?

While President Donald Trump on Sunday thanked football’s world governing body FIFA for suspending the red card issued to USA’s Folarin Balogun, paving the way for the striker to play in a last-16 World Cup showdown against Belgium.

“Thank you to FIFA for doing what was right, and reversing a great injustice!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.