Belgium defeated the U.S. men’s national soccer team 4-1 in their Round of 16 game at the FIFA World Cup on Monday, knocking out the hosts from the tournament—as the team said they were fueled by the controversy over FIFA’s decision to overturn Folarin Balogun’s red card suspension after a push by President Donald Trump.
Belgium's Romelu Lukaku celebrates after scoring his side's fourth goal during the World Cup round of 16 match between the United States and Belgium in Seattle.
Belgian captain Youri Tielemans told the country’s public broadcaster RTBF that the team held a meeting after hearing about Balogun’s red card decision and decided “we needed to do our talking on the pitch.”
In a post-game interview, Belgium’s goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois said his team had been shown “lack of respect” in the U.S. in recent days and heard that they could be beaten “easily.”
Belgian midfielder Nicolas Raskin told reporters that the game’s outcome showed there’s “always a justice somewhere in life,” and said the red card controversy was not fair to his team.
