Trump called FIFA about Folarin Balogun's red card. So what? | Opinion
Critics can smear President Donald Trump for plenty of things, but they can never say he fails to advocate for American interests with a doggedness that borders on obsession. Even, apparently, when it comes to World Cup soccer matches ‒ to the shock, chagrin and perhaps even awe of much of the rest of the world.
Trump said July 6 that he asked FIFA President Gianni Infantino to review a decision that had already sparked controversy at the World Cup. During the July 1 match against Bosnia and Herzegovina, U.S. striker Folarin Balogun was given a red card and banned for one game after stepping on his opponent's ankle.
FIFA then announced July 5 that it had rescinded Balogun's red card and would allow him to play in the U.S. Men's National Team's July 6 match against Belgium.
"All I did was ask for a review. I didn't say, ‘You have to do this,'" Trump said from the Oval Office. "I didn't think it was a foul. I thought it was two great athletes that crashed into each other and got entangled."
"I didn't tell (Infantino) what to do. I can't tell him what to do," he added.
The Royal Belgian Football Association filed an appeal of FIFA's decision to allow Balogun to play July 6, but it got rejected.
Trump's call to FIFA's Infantino sparks fury
Soccer fans were already upset about Balogun's red card and suspension. Now Trump's call to Infantino has intensified scrutiny of the whole affair, igniting a firestorm of criticism for both FIFA and Trump.
Critics suggest that Trump pressured Infantino, or that Infantino caved to Trump's influence ‒ and that the president's involvement in a World Cup match is an unprecedented breach of both presidential norms and sports ethics on the world's stage.
CNN dubbed Trump's call "a remarkable intervention that sparked a torrent of controversy at the World Cup." UEFA, Europe's soccer governing body, said FIFA "crossed a red line" and called the decision "unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable."
Former FIFA President Sepp Blatter criticized both FIFA and Trump, posting on social media: "Red cards are not overturned by political phone calls. They are overturned by rules, evidence and independent bodies. If a U.S. President intervenes with the FIFA President ‒ and a player is suddenly cleared before a World Cup knockout match ‒ the question is unavoidable: Quo vadis (where are you going), FIFA?"
Belgian politicians and soccer officials have also expressed anger and disappointment at FIFA.
The New York Times reported that this is the first time FIFA has reversed a red card since 1962, adding that "Mr. Infantino has spent years trying to curry favor with Mr. Trump. Last year, FIFA created and gave Mr. Trump the FIFA Peace Prize amid the president's public, but failed, campaign to win the Nobel Peace Prize."
Trump, of course, was happy about FIFA's decision, and applauded it on Truth Social, writing: "Thank you to FIFA for doing what was right, and reversing a great injustice!"
Calling FIFA was on brand for Trump
On one hand, I hope Trump didn't pressure Infantino to reverse the call. That would be unethical. I wish Trump would stay out of matters that don't require the direct involvement of the president; this one comes across like that parent at a youth soccer tournament yelling at the referee over a call involving their kid.
It was already a bad call, and everyone knew it. Letting it go, and watching Team USA win without Balogun, would have been a win-win for everyone.
On the other hand, I'm not surprised Trump watched the game, didn't like the call and picked up the phone. That's just who he is. Infantino, for his part, could have said no ‒ he didn't have to take the review seriously, let alone act on it.
So if there's fault here, it runs both ways. Most of the outrage over this non-story says less about Trump than it does about how reflexively the world has learned to assume the worst of him.
None of this should surprise anyone who's watched Trump for more than five minutes. He runs the presidency like a business he owns, not an office with boundaries ‒ if something's broken, he wants it fixed, whether it's a soccer call or a crime wave.
He tried to revitalize the unsightly Reflecting Pool on the National Mall. He sent Immigration and Customs Enforcement into Minnesota to enforce immigration law. He's building a White House ballroom.
So, is this Trump misusing his power, or just Trump being Trump? Both, probably, though I lean toward the latter. He watched a game, thought a call was wrong and picked up the phone about it, the same way he's picked up the phone about crime in the nation's capital or a park he thought looked rundown.
Whether that's a good habit in a president is a fair question. But it's not a new one, and it's not really about soccer. Love him or hate him, the man does not sit still, and a World Cup red card was never going to be the exception.
Nicole Russell is an opinion columnist with USA TODAY. She lives in Texas with her four kids. Sign up for her newsletter, The Right Track, and get it delivered to your inbox.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump called FIFA about Folarin Balogun's red card. So what? | Opinion
Reporting by Nicole Russell, USA TODAY / USA TODAY
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
Copyright Reuters or USA Today Network via Reuters Connect
This story was originally published July 6, 2026 at 1:08 PM.