The FIFA decision to suspend the suspension of the United States national team striker Folarin Balogun after a call from President Donald Trump caused an explosion in the world of football. This unprecedented intervention, without precedent since 1962, has split the sports community and led to a series of consequences — both on and off the field.\n\nBackground: what happened?\n\nIn the 1/16 final match of the 2026 World Cup against Bosnia and Herzegovina, which the United States won 2:0, striker Folarin Balogun, who had already scored three goals in the tournament, received a direct red card on the 64th minute. The referee considered that he had roughly stepped on the ankle of defender Tarek Muharemovic. According to the rules, such an expulsion automatically led to a suspension for the next match — in this case, the decisive 1/8 final against Belgium.\n\nTrump's Intervention: the call that changed everything\n\nThe subsequent development of events became unprecedented. U.S. President Donald Trump, who, according to his own admission, initially did not know that a red card meant not only expulsion from the field but also a missed match, personally called FIFA President Gianni Infantino.\n\n\n The essence of the request: Trump asked to reconsider the incident, claiming that he did not consider this a violation of the rules. He called the referee's decision \"outrageous injustice\" and the referee himself \"horrible).\n Argumentation: The U.S. president emphasized that the absence of the best striker would significantly reduce the Americans' chances of success, and his suspension would be a \"big stain\" on the reputation of the entire tournament.\n\n\nFIFA's Reaction: an unprecedented decision\n\nFIFA took a step unprecedented in the modern history of the World Cup. The attacker was allowed to play in the match against Belgium.\n\n\n Legal wording: The red card was not annulled. Referring to Article 27 of its disciplinary code, FIFA postponed the enforcement ... Read more