'It wasn't a foul', says Trump about red card against the American team The President of the United States, Donald Trump, confirmed this Monday (6) that he asked FIFA to review the red card given to the United States player Folarin Balogun, during the North American team's last match in the World Cup, against Bosnia Herzegovina. ? Follow the g1 international news channel on WhatsApp Asked about the topic at a press conference in the Oval Office of the White House, Trump said he did not consider the foul called by the "horrible" referee to be fair and refuted the accusations of political interference in the competition. The referee of the match was Brazilian Raphael Claus. ? After reviewing the move with VAR, Claus sent off Balogun in the 18th minute of the final stage. The striker received a red card for stepping on Muharemovic's ankle. Read the transcript of Trump's response below: "That wasn't a foul. That wasn't even an infraction. It was two guys running at top speed who happened to bump into each other. You can't put your foot exactly on someone else's foot when you're running at top speed. No, it was two great athletes who got tangled up. And this referee, who's a little suspicious — if you check his background. I don't want to say that because I don't like to create controversy, but very suspicious. If you want, I'll pass it on to you I watched the game, no one had to ask me to watch. It was impossible to take my eyes off the game. I told Gianni that they are broadcasting a lot of games here, even in a country where, let's face it, this is not the main sport. the projection is at least 50 million viewers. We call it 'soccer', but we can't just call it 'football', because that ends up causing confusion. So, around here, we call it 'soccer'. I think we're the only ones who do that, because we already have our own football. wrong, and he's our best player, or one of our best players — a very vital player — and they gave him a red card. I didn't know what that meant. I didn't think it meant much. Then I started hearing that it means you can't play in the next game, at least in the next game. play, that's very unfair. It's one thing to penalize someone for the [current] game, but how do you penalize them for a game that hasn't been played yet? So, yes, I asked for a review by FIFA" Folarin Balogun, from the USA, receives a red card from referee Raphael Claus. Phil Noble / Reuters Belgium will contest the decision Earlier, Belgium, which faces the United States this Monday (6) for a place in the quarter-finals, demanded explanations from FIFA for revoking the red card. In a statement, the Belgian Football Federation stated that it has not yet received "neither FIFA's decision nor any explanation regarding this case". According to the entity, "in these circumstances, there is no other option but to challenge the player's eligibility for the next match." The Belgians argue that "Article 66.4 of the same FIFA Disciplinary Code clearly provides that a red card (expulsion) automatically results in suspension for the team's next match, as has been the case with all previous red cards issued during this World Cup." of the 2026 World Cup itself, reinforcing that the punishment should be automatic. According to the Belgians, this rule was reaffirmed by FIFA in circulars and official meetings before each match of the tournament. Under the claim of protecting the fundamental principles of "fair play" and the rights of the participating teams, the Belgian federation reported that it is already investigating all potential options in the case. Decision celebrated by Trump and US coach President of the United States, Donald Trump, and FIFA president, Gianni Infantino, pose for a photo with the World Cup trophy in the Oval Office, at the White House. Photo from August 2025. Disclosure/White House On Sunday (5), Trump had already congratulated FIFA for canceling the card: "Thank you to FIFA for doing what was right and reversing a great injustice!", the president also published during a press conference. on Sunday, the coach of the North American team, Mauricio Pochettino, celebrated the decision. "We were punished enough against Bosnia-Herzegovina by playing with one less for 30 minutes, in a completely unfair decision. And not just because I'm the coach of the United States national team and I need to defend my side. It's because I believe that 99.9% of people agree that that red card was unfair," said Argentine coach Folarin Balogun, from the USA, during the game against Bosnia and Herzegovina. Phil Noble / Reuters