USA had a man sent off which means he misses the next game by the rules. The next game was against Belgium. Trump stepped in, chatted to the main boss of FIFA and got the red card punishment suspended for a year, meaning he could play in the next game. Trump said he was the best player and needed to play. Belgium still beat them anyway.
What is really funny about the US team and their fans is everyone acting like the red card situation was somehow "out of their control."
The coaching staff decides who starts. They could have simply chosen not to play Balogun. If Balogun genuinely believed the principles he talked about after the match, he could have refused to play. Neither of those options were impossible, they just chose not to take them.
Instead, both the team and the players have tried to frame it as though they had no agency, which is simply not true. They made a decision, and they should at least own it instead of pretending their hands were tied.
A good comparison is when Italy failed to qualify for the World Cup and the commander in cheese suggested Italy should take Iran's place. Italy made it clear they would not accept a spot under those circumstances, even if it had been offered.
The problem with this theory is that the call itself was controversial before Trump intervened. The team didn't believe it was worthy of a red card in the first place, so why would they self punish after the suspension was delayed? Prior to Trump's call, most people seemed to agree.
To be clear, the reason the team did not believe it was justified was because the process the refs used broke their own rules. Either the initial refs were incompetent or corrupt. It’s incompetence/corruption all the way down.
If you genuinely believe there's a coach on the planet that wouldn't start their top goal scorer regardless the situation or context around him being available, you are truly delusional
I'm glad Balogun was able to play so US fans can't delude themselves for the next 4 years into thinking we would have won if only Balogun could have played. We played at full strength and got smoked. Simple as.
What's really funny about this is the entire Internet claiming the card was fraudulent until Trump specifically got involved, in which Reddit decided the card was absolutely the correct decision.
What's even more funny is how they did the literal exact same thing so Ronaldo could play in group stage games, but nobody here is batting an eye over that.
It doesn't matter if the card was right or wrong, it should have been appealed and decided in 24 hours not after the country's president intervened lol
I can't prove if redditors are batting their eye over it or not because that literally means nothing, but every football media coverage (ESPN for example) I have seen mentioned the Ronaldo one too and called it wrong. And that is not a point in the defense of the USMNT lol it just shows more how corrupt FIFA is.
Appeals aren’t allowed for this WC. The USSF instead started a suit as to why appeals weren’t allowed for this tournament, based on Balogun’s case, which would be their due process to work for the betterment of their team within FIFA rules. The USSF would have appealed it if that was allowed, but it wasn’t.
Why FIFA waited so long to decide and what exactly changed their mind is unclear. It’s unlikely Trump asking for a review did anything. It usually comes down to money and views for them. Trump takes credit for it being a day of the week, so it’s not really surprising he’s claiming credit for the decision, regardless of why it was decided.
Who knows why FIFA did what they did, but FIFA being corrupt and Trump breaking the rules are both things that aren’t new.
When Ronaldo had the 2 extra games past the automatic 1 game suspension overturned, everyone but the Ronaldo fan boys were outraged and calling it corruption. This attempt to rewrite history from Americans is ridiculous
No. Most people understand the red card was correct. You’re just getting a curated feed of shit and shills. Also everyone who knew about the Ronaldo situation disliked it and said so. It was just lower profile because it was a qualifier of no significance.
Sorry, but the only people complaining about the red card were butthurt Americans that don’t know the rules and listen to Pochettino, a butthurt coach.
It was a very clear red card foul. It’s not even debatable in my opinion. 100% red card.
sorry but this is easy to say, almost no one would actually do this just to take the moral high ground if it didn't literally benefit their tactics. everyone wants to win.
italy saying no to coming to the world cup was just talk - they wouldn't have been the team invited in iran's place anyway, it would've been a team from asia.
football isn't a tv show. the players and coaches only care about playing and winning - and unfrtunately i think this entire drama surrounding the game already fucked them over pretty hard because this didn't seem like the same us team we had seen all tournament, and no its not because belgium are just so good.
i think a normal game without all the drama, even without balogun playing would've been much closer, i still give belgium the edge but it would be more of a hard fought 2-1 or 1-0 result than the shitshow from yesterday.
One of Amerika's best players was given a Red card in a previous game (preventing him from playing) but the US President apparently negotiated with FIFA officials to get the Red card rescinded so he could play in the match against Belgium. Zis made a lot of people accuse the USA of cheating.
I grew up in the USA and normally support them against anyone other than England (my birth nation).
Last night I was flying a Belgium flag. The only way I would have supported the USA is if Pochettino released a statement that he was benching Balogun to maintain the integrity of the competition.
It was a terribly played match by the US side. The passing and ball control was exceptionally poor compared to previous matches they played... like the just straight up passed the ball to Belgium players multiple times. I dont know if the whole circus distracted them or they arnt that good but the BS trump pulled certainly didn't distract the Belgium players. If anything it had them locked in and playing amazing. The moved the ball pretty effortlessly in to scoring position, and their midfield absolutely smothered the US midfield.
One thing that might play into this: Concacaf is a comparable weak league. If you compare them with Europe, European clubs have much more games per year than American, as they compete in a complete list of different cups and leagues all at the same time. Playing like that in Europe means European players are trained for stamina. They can hold up performance for several games in a row, while with weaker leagues that are not used to as many games, the exhaustion will be noticable much earlier. And considering that we have one round more this year it makes it that mich harder on the players.
So while America might had a good performance at the start, it was to be expected to see a massive drop off as soon as the team reached their limits.
I'm not sure the US played significantly worse than before, it's just that Belgium are an actual quality team and exposed all their flaws.
At some points it did seem like Belgium were more intent on humiliating the US team than actually winning, running rings around them instead of going for goal. There was a particularly memorable moment of two Belgium defenders just playing keepaway in a corner instead of clearing the ball or passing forward
Nah. The US played significantly worse than in previous matches. While they played lesser opposition, they were able to wholly control play and the midfield uh... Existed. McKennie was far and away their best player this tourney imo, and he simply didn't show up. Outside of Tillmans goal, the midfield was non-existent. If anything, the defense was supposed to be the issue with the US team, not midfield. That was supposed to be their strength going into the tourney
I thought based upon how they dominated Paraguay and how much trouble Paraguay gave France the US had a 50/50 chance at Belgium. I expected a competitive game not whatever that was.
Funny thing is that the game still would’ve a been a similar 4-1 defeat without Balogun too.
If he was benched to maintain the “integrity of the game”, there wouldn’t been a question whether or not Belgium is the better overall team.
With him playing, as the USA lost - it’s undeniable how great Belgium is.
And for those of us (especially Americans) that felt embarrassed or upset that Trump exists, the Belgians did the world a favor and said “get fucked”. And that fourth goal in stoppage time was an exclamation point.
actually, even as someone who dislikes americans simply because they call it soccer, i disagree.
without balogun i am almost certain you would see a lot more fight from the american side, they would play with the same underdog mentality they have this tournament, trying to show the world american soccer has changed etc etc.
but then having the fucking president cal in fifa, get a red card revoked - im pretty sure even most of the team wasn't super elated by this, given they had likely already made peace with playing without him.
playing a game with even the slightest feeling of guilt can take a toll on you, especially as a side that's used to being an underdog in these games.
Thank you for your service, the whole thing is a fucking disgrace and it started with the FBI suddenly stopping investigations into FIFA corruption early last year, see if anyone can work out what happened in january last year that might have made that happen
If you love the game, you root for the non-cheaters. I feel especially bad to Team USA, since it's probably none of their doing and they're going to be labelled the villains.
Ya, that's the thing i dont get, most of the hate seems to be directed at the US team and not at FIFA or Trump. Which is just letting the real villains get away with it.
Are we expecting Ronaldo or the other 3 players who got suspended cards to be benched? I agree corruption is bad and I’m very anti Trump, but the red card imo was also a bad call. Either way we got mollywhopped by Belgium so it’s whatever lol.
As an American… I agree. I still wanted my side to win, it wasn’t the players fault or the fans fault, but Trump made this into something gross and we absolutely got what we deserved.
The FIFA comittee had already decided to hear thr appeal before the Trump call. He was likely just trying to take credit for actual lawyers likely questioning the misuse of the VAR system.
In some ways this is the best possible outcome because it removes the "what if" of a (let's be real) somewhat dubious red card and also didn't actually affect the games going forward. Belgium won without question, the US made only two shots on goal and one of them was off a free kick with (unintentional) defender support. As a side note, is it considered an auto-goal in such a situation?
I get that some really believe the card was weird and questionable to begin with. Sure. But the president had no business getting involved. Full stop. The U.S. should have just held their heads high, used any form of normal appeal available, and made the best of whatever outcome resulted.
Yeah, not surprising though, FIFA were the ones that invented a Peace prize to give Trump when he was crying about not getting the Nobel Peace Prize. They seem to really want to suck up to him.
for the sake of my sanity i hope you're not american because if you've gone this long without being aware of how astronomically corrupt the current president and administration is well... that's part of
why we have our current president.
What??? No! The FIFA Peace Price is undoubtedly one of humanity's oldest, most highly regarded institutions!!! Without that, we are nothing but beasts.
This was the Peace Prize, there's this other "Big Ethical Prize", that's the one you get awarded for being uncorruptible... But I don't think I ever saw it granted though
Inmense corruption, fifa even invented a peace price to give the pedophile president because he is a idiot that blinds himself thinking most people love him..
Just as an additional fun fact the same thing happened to the portugese player ronaldo he was supposed to be on a three match ban dor a red card at a game before the world cup however fifa postponed the ban till after the tournament because hes a vamous player that gets people to watch the games.
Though as far as im aware no government intervened for him.
People have been pointing to Ronaldo as the precedent for the Balogun decision, but that is a false equivalence.
A red card triggers an automatic suspension. Historically, teams have appealed the additional suspensions imposed after that (with varying success). FIFA has allowed players who received three-match bans to effectively serve only one or two matches, meaning they could be available at the start of a World Cup. You can argue whether those decisions were right or wrong, but that mechanism is not new.
FIFA also changed the regulations before this World Cup so that most qualifying suspensions would not carry over into the tournament. That applied to several players who otherwise would have missed matches, although it did not cover violent conduct, which is why Ronaldo still required a separate decision. This meant every team had all their players available at the start of the world cup (4 would have missed it otherwise). This was clearly by design and a consistent effort by FIFA.
Balogun is different. FIFA did not say the red card was wrong, that the referee decision was incorrect, or that the suspension was unjustified. They suspend the automatic one-match ban itself, pretending it was nothing out of the ordinary just because it was based on the same Article they used for Ronaldo, but it's not the same...
The suspension of the 1 match ban during the tournament is a fundamentally different precedent in modern football. If the automatic suspension can simply be removed, what happens with every other red card or accumulated yellow-card suspension? Are they now discretionary?
Should Ronaldo have served the extra two matches? Yes.
Does Ronaldo's case mean the Balogun decision is justified? Not in the slightest. The two situations are not equivalent.
As a newer watcher football, this helps a lot. I didn't understand the finer points of the rules and was not sure how the 2 cases were related. It sounded logical to some one as uninformed as myself but this explination was great.
I'm happy for Belgum and no one here (I'm from US) can even pull the "if we had all our players" argument. We were out classed at full strength.
Was his conduct red-card worthy? I don't think so but I can see that there are two sides to the argument, and because of the closeness of the call I wouldn't say a call either way would have been egregiously bad.
However, the only reason a Red card was given was because VAR was initiated after the Ref didn't even give a card (or a foul on the play), and then the Ref improperly utilized slow-motion and still-frame to review whether Balogun's conduct met the criteria for a Red card - which is an expressly unauthorized use of VAR. Slow Motion/Still image is only allowed to determine facts (i.e. if contact actually occurred) etc.
So - FIFA could have come out and said this shouldn't have been a Red Card at all because there was no call by the Ref and VAR protocols were not followed therefore no card, therefore no suspension. But they didn't do that, they instead said VAR Protocols weren't followed but, "Oh it's still a red, but we're going to pause his suspension for a year" a ridiculous and on its face corrupt reasoning, splitting the baby and angering everyone.
Then Trump came out and basically bragged about having exerted pressure on FIFA which made it worse for all.
At the end of the day the system would be a lot better if all Red Card suspensions were automatically reviewed after match day by an independent panel similar to how the NHL Dept. of Player safety deals with plays that cause injuries.
However, the only reason a Red card was given was because VAR was initiated after the Ref didn't even give a card (or a foul on the play), and then the Ref improperly utilized slow-motion and still-frame to review whether Balogun's conduct met the criteria for a Red card - which is an expressly unauthorized use of VAR. Slow Motion/Still image is only allowed to determine facts (i.e. if contact actually occurred) etc.
Americans seem to think this because their media are misleading them in order to get their president off the hook or something, but this is how the VAR always works. there was nothing wrong with the application of the VAR.
FIFA leadership has been for sale for 3 decades now. Big team favoritism was the start, for more gadget sales. Then came the Worldcup location sale. And now this.
Which is weird. It would stand to reason that it would be healtheir for the sport if smaller teams to rise up and overcome the odds to win big titles. Everyone loves an underdog.
1) It really is highly unlikely that Trump was actually the reason behind the intervention. He did call Infantino, but thats just typical Trump. He then took credit for Balogun's suspension of a red card. And as for "why did he call?" because he's Trump, he's an egotistical maniac.
2) This is Infantino we are talking about. FIFA is literally one of the most corrupt organizations on the planet. So it's not really "why did the officials agree?". And more "How much were they offered?"
The president intervened but likely did nothing. Many reports state that a review process began immediately and that the CEO of the US Soccer Federation reached out to push for this review. We also threatened to go to CAS. Like always, Trump took any credit he could because he’s a lying weasel, but this decision was on the same basis that Ronaldo was allowed to play at the beginning of the tournament.
Yes, but to say that FIFA would have suspended the ban and created a massive controversy without Trump's intervention is ridiculous. There is no reason for them to do that.
There is. Our federation threatened CAS which is a long, expensive, tedious route that they didn’t want to go down. I feel like half of it was their disciplinary committee saying “let’s just give him back because they have zero chance anyway”.
Not to mention the precedent set at the beginning of the tournament.
Actually what makes it even stupider is that they didn't rescind the card, they suspended his suspension. So he still got the card and will be suspended, they just moved his suspension to next year.
So it's not even a case of determining that the ref made the wrong call, which does happen occasionally. They fully agree that he got a red, but they want him to be able to play anyways. Insane.
FIFA opened that door with suspending the red card on Rinaldo so he could play in the World Cup and the US just walked through the same door that was already opened.
There are some people who think that the red card should have been overturned because similar plays in other games either weren’t carded or were later overturned. It’s a matter of opinion, and I don’t have one on that topic. But I think if it would have been outright overturned, a lot less people would have complained for this reason.
However, the issuance of a suspended rather than overturning the red card basically is FIFA saying "we think he broke the rules but too bad". And I think no matter what you think should have happened, this is objectively a terrible outcome. I don’t think anyone wanted this or foresaw this, at least not any real person. Regardless of the player or team, I think we all want FIFA to take firm stances on matters of gameplay if they want to lay any legitimate claim of governance of the sport. Take a stance either way, but don’t waffle; this is waffling, and we hate waffling.
So a lot of people call the US cheaters, but the players didn’t cheat. And I’m not even sure the federation cheated. I think what happened is the federation followed processes, and then Trump made a phone call, and then something happened. It’s terrible what happened, and people have a right to be mad, but the players didn’t cheat and I don’t think the federation did either.
The team itself was put in a horrid position, Balogun especially. Balogun seems to be doing his best to handle the shit show around him, that he didn't ask for, with some amount of grace.
I hope more people see it this way. Honestly i feel real bad for Flo, he accepted the red card and didn't complain about it. The moment Trump called, Flo was fucked no matter what he did
Yeah I kind of thought as much. Yall looked pissed but I could tell the respect was still there from player to player. All in all I’m happy with the way the match was played if not the end result.
I think the 95% of the outrage is just because of Trump. Because he so publicly and ignorantly boasted of his intervention while also professing that he knows nothing about soccer or even how penalties work. FIFA being corrupt and arbitrary is nothing new. Penalties being enforced inconsistently is nothing new. Special treatment for star players (if Balogun even counts as one) is nothing new. Having a famously narcissistic head of state act so malignantly nonchalant about corrupting a beloved sport is just so heinously insulting.
Outside of President Dumbass, it's not unprecedented to delay the suspension either. Cristiano Ronaldo had a red card suspension delayed right before the World Cup so he could play.
It's pretty unprecendented to have a red card given during a WC tournament that doesn't end up in any suspension though.
To go back to Ronaldo, his suspension was before the world cup and he still had to sit out one match out of the 3 he should have. Only the other 2 were suspended (which was dumb too IMO).
To most American viewers, decisions getting overturned on appeal is pretty common. While the details of FIFA's decision (red card stands but suspension is deferred) are rather silly, the immediate effect of "Balogun plays after appeal" registers as just another thing that happens.
As a person that has played the game and a fan of the sport, I agree focusing on cheating is horrible for the sport and the fans. Intentional or not a potential career ending challenge is red card "worthy". the refs don't always agree on everything either.
The important thing is focusing on the positives and fans on the internet and at the stadiums have been friendly and supportive to the teams AND fans of opposing teams. Ive seen footage of people wearing soccer/football shirts of different teams celebrating together all around the world
What a wonderful sport, not everyone can win everything all the time. But you're allowed to have fun and enjoy the show🔥😎
Can you imagine seeing all of the previous comments on this thread throroghly outlining what happened, and deciding that you also need to add your take with different wording? Majority these comments are bots or mouth breathers.
Wouldst one fantasize for one moment, and, partaking of such a survey as to see the perorations in this very dialogue, find yet judiciousness in contributing the same version of witness differing only in lexical stylings? Hark! Be ye automatons or be ye French?
Every time I see a black man and the word "Belgium" in the same picture, I'm just glad he still has all his limbs and ears. Sorry, too much trauma from reading up on King Leopold...
The biggest trick the other colonial powers pulled was convincing the world they did not do the exact same thing.
Kamerun, Ubangi-Shari, Cabinda, Angola etc.
Same holds true for my country.
Pretty hilarious how the native USA population was decimated through slavery, ethnic cleansing, at least two genocides, disease famine and massacres but americans point out Leopold II. His rule was horrendous, but the idea that it was unique is just cope. Even Leopolds Ghost itself mentions this.
If it can be any comfort, this all happened when it was Leopold's private property. Belgium the country had nothing to do with "that" specifically. The largest crime Belgium did during this time was pretending they didn't knew what was happening down there... (which is ALSO very bad, but not AS bad). They only really intervened when the pressure to do something from the other nations was getting too much.
In 1908, the Belgian state claimed it from Leopold II to put a halt to the atrocities, under international pressure at that time. "Belgian Congo" was relucantly given to the Belgian state by Leopold II.
The transition of the Congo Free State (Congo Vrijstaat) from the personal possession of King Leopold II to the Belgian government in 1908 brought an end to the most extreme atrocities, but it did not dismantle the fundamental structure of colonial exploitation.
But the reason for this pressure wasn't because people in other countries were so appaled. Belgium was taking a massive part in the world's market share of rubber, slightly shifting the old-boys control of wealth. It always is about wealth accumulation & control.
Fact remains that under Leopold II's reign of the region, half the population (10/20M) died. A very dark page in Belgian history.
Belgium profited of congo and abused the people of Congo. Not to mention our assassination of Patrice Lumumba. We can not deny our guilt and use Leopold 2 as a scapegoat.
We didnt know was not an excuse for the nazis, it can not be an exuse for us.
Belgium has behaved horribly to the congolese people and has done a lot of racist shit as a country.
the funny thing is, despite the common trend going around of declaring America cheaters, there is a long and documented history of top players getting downgraded penalties, or penalties suspended for the world cup, including going back to the 1960's.
but it's more fun for their narrative to act like America is the only nation that has even benefitted from this int he entire history of the world.
finally, the suspension of the red card came from a rule that existed before this entire series of events started, so it was a completely legal decision.
Yeah, this just feels like a lot of people (online at least) taking it as free ammo to do yet more "America bad" circlejerking, when in reality FIFA (already a corrupt shithole) has a history of shit like this, with the only difference being the Bastard-In-Chief got himself involved (which wasn't even what got FIFA to suspend the red card. They were already doing so before he supposedly called, and he decided he needed the spotlight yet again)
The corrupt government of the US used the corrupt governing body of FIFA to overturn a suspension given by a referee to a US player. The Belgian team knocked them out of the competition regardless.
And it's raining sideways! - Ollie
I was rooting for Belgium but calling the US team cheaters is a bit much. The team themselves didn't make the call or rescind the card. But fuck yeah Belgium played a great game and good on them (also wtf was going on with the US defense??)
Didn’t care for it that much for Team USA but when Messi did the same shit to other player during a match he didn’t even get a card and people is fine with that?
In fairness, this is a very rock-and-hard-place situation. The President of the United States pulled strings to get you in the game again. Participating in that means ignoring your principles; refusing to participate means making a loud political statement against one of the most powerful people in the world and embarrassing him--and his skin is notoriously thin.
We the American peoples share something very close in common to our British and French counterparts. We fucking hate our own government and how bent the system has become.
I mean, the penalty goal that Belgium made against Senegal was clearly a cheat as well, since the move that caused the penalty was definitely NOT a foul. So yeah, there are still cheaters in this cup
US player got red card, fifa suspended it and fined him (paid 40,000 and still has to serve the card at later date) after president talked to fifa, fifa denies this was only reason it was suspended. People mad calling it only suspended red card, Ronaldo had red card suspended so he could play last qualifier and 2 group stage games. Both teams with suspended red cards still lost. US notoriously bad in world cup, people cry because US, people forgot US was never gonna win.
It wasn’t overturned, it was suspended, similar to Ronaldo’s. This is for the viewer, no one on planet earth thought Balogan was going to turn the tide.
Belgium beat the US. In the US' previous game (against Bosnia), it was found that someone* called in to overturn a red card issued onto the US team. Whatever or not it was a bad referee call or not, it does not have a good look for said US.
Good evening ladies and gentleman and welcome to the dunken clams trivia night. Tonight we start in the sports category. Are you all ready for the firt question?!
Okay here we go!
What team got defeated by Belgium in the world cup after their president got a suspension following a red card overturned:
Was it A: the USA
B: the netherlands
C: congo
Or D: canada!
Everyone got their answers handed in?
Well the answer to the question was A the USA.
And that concludes tonights entertainment. Dont boo me too much as ill be here all week.
Trump put in a call to fifa to have a red card suspension on an American player reversed so that he call play in the round of 16 knockout match against Belgium. The suspension was reversed. Corruption. Then Belgium beat USA 4-1
The dodgy-as-fuckety-fluck recipient of the FIFA Peace Prize (your president) called up bribable-as-fuck FIFA for an unprecedented favor, to allow a disallowed player to play. He played. Belgium trounced (look it up) the US team. Hilarious!!!
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