For the second time in 2026, a U.S. moment of television feelgood unity has become an infight-y referendum on the Trump administration.The reason for that? The Trump administration.Mostly.The president’s successful gambit this weekend of asking for “a review” from FIFA president Gianni Infantino of the red card given U.S. striker Folarin Balogun has, not surprisingly, caused everyone you’d expect to get upset to get upset and everyone you’d think would defend the move to defend the move.It combines to make what had been a non-partisan story of the USMNT’s success — they play Belgium in the Round of 16 Monday night on Fox and Telemundo in what will be a ratings extravaganza — a partisan story, through no fault of the team’s. Just like the U.S. Men’s Hockey team gold-medal win over Canada at the Olympics in February became a partisan story, through no fault of the team.As you no doubt know, the U.S. Men’s National Team has been an incredibly feelgood story at the World Cup after going 2-1 in Group play and then beating Bosnia-Herzegovina 2-0 despite playing down a man for much of the second half. It has become a feelgood story with genuinely good guys and a melting-pot multiracial squad — coach Mauricio Pochettino from Argentina, star winger Christina Pulisic from Pennsylvania, attacking midfielder Malik Tillman raised in Germany, striker Balogun a British-Nigerian (born in Brooklyn while his parents were on a trip here), Mexican American striker Ricardo Pepi and right-back Tim Weah, who’s a Florida-raised child of the man who would become the Liberian president. The team also features the World Cup’s only known Jewish player in keeper Matt Turner. Not for nothing did the Bosnia match garner 33 million viewers on Fox and Telemundo, the most for a U.S. soccer broadcast by the length of three pitches.As you no doubt also know, Trump didn’t like that Balogun was given a red card in the Bosnia game for what looked like an inadvertent ankle-trample on a contested ball. Trump soon learned (in fairness, like many Americans) that it meant a suspension for the Belgium game. So this weekend he called Infantino, who had given him a “Peace Prize” recently and had clearly been playing the Trump-obeyance game. (Haven’t these people heard of backchanneling?) The decision was soon reversed under so-called “Article 27,” which FIFA reserves for such moments announced Sunday.By Monday morning the battle lines were drawn, and you could chalk them without even opening your eyes. Europe was up in arms. UEFA, the European soccer federation, called the reversal “incomprehensible and unjustifiable.” The Norwegian coach called it a big mistake. Belgium coach Rudi Garcia quipped “I didn’t know that July 5 was April 1.”On the other side, Infantino threw up his hands more dramatically than Messi after a challenge and said that “FIFA’s judicial bodies are independent.” Trump said “I didn’t think it was a foul.” And Trump supporter and Fox Sports commentator Alexi “Soccer President” Lalas went on Fox News to say, literally, “take it up with FIFA.”(That the whole thing is playing out on Fox News sister unit Fox Sports only adds to the stickiness; will Euro-centric commentators like Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Thierry Henry join their continental siblings in protest Monday night or be gently encouraged to can it?)The insertion of Trump into what should have been a continued feelgood story (“Trump may have just broken the World Cup,” New York magazine said) elicited shudders and eyerolls for any fan who’s been craving a great story. Just as it did when Kash Patel showed up to chug in the men’s hockey locker room in Milan and then Trump invited the club to the State of the Union for a gold-medal victory lap. Many who watched that win with unadulterated joy on NBC that Sunday suddenly felt like they may be getting used during the network broadcast of the SOTU on Tuesday.