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The US’s World Cup campaign took an extraordinary turn on Sunday when Fifa made the unprecedented decision to suspend Folarin Balogun’s automatic red-card ban, clearing the striker to face Belgium in Monday’s last-16 clash after US President Donald Trump personally urged Fifa president Gianni Infantino to review the case. The move thrust Fifa’s disciplinary process into the global spotlight, prompted an angry response from Belgium, and ensured that one of this tournament’s biggest talking points would centre not on tactics or team selection, but on the relationship between football’s governing body and political power.Within minutes, the decision had ignited one of the tournament’s biggest media storms, dominating sports bulletins and talk shows as pundits, commentators and former players argued over whether Fifa had upheld justice or undermined its own rules.As questions mounted over the circumstances surrounding the decision, Fifa did not respond to multiple Reuters requests for comment about the decision and Trump’s call with Infantino.Donald Trump called FIFA chief Gianni Infantino on Wednesday to ask him to review the ban on U.S. forward Folarin Balogun, according to Sky's U.S. partner network NBC News, citing a source familiar with the phone conversation.Balogun was due to serve an automatic one-game… pic.twitter.com/krc9QuJ8Tc— Sky News (@SkyNews) July 5, 2026
