Washington DC - The US faces the biggest day of soccer in its history on Monday as the team plays Belgium in what will be a spicy encounter for a place in the World Cup quarter-finals. This comes after a controversial intervention by Donald Trump further fired up the Belgians.
On Monday, Trump confirmed that he asked FIFA boss Gianni Infantino to review the "horrible" decision to hand a red card to star US striker Folarin Balogun, but said he did not request it to be overturned.
"I asked for a review because I didn't think it was a foul," Trump told reporters at the White House. "All I did was ask for a review; I didn't say you have to do this."
"That wasn't even an infraction. That was two guys running full speed that happened to crash into each other," Trump said.
The Republican president also took aim at Raphael Claus, the Brazilian referee who made the call, describing him as "a little bit suspect if you check his past."
Balogun had been set to miss Monday's last-16 knockout clash against Belgium after receiving a straight red card following video review for stepping on the foot of a Bosnian defender in a round-of-32 clash that the US won 2-0.
Under FIFA rules, a straight red card automatically triggers a one-game ban, which cannot be appealed by the player's team.
But world football's governing body said Sunday the ban will now be suspended for a year after the personal call from Trump.
"We're going to have a full team, and Belgium is going to have a full team, and you know what? If they beat us, then they can be really proud," the US president said Monday.
"The other way, if they beat us... I say it was rigged, just like the election was rigged in 2020," Trump said, referring to his false claims of widespread fraud in the vote he lost to Democrat Joe Biden.
"Thank you to FIFA for doing what was right, and reversing a great injustice!" Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
The US team welcomed the decision, which coach Mauricio Pochettino called "fair," but it sparked outrage from Belgium and other teams.
European football's governing body UEFA slammed the ruling, declaring that FIFA had "crossed a red line."
In a strongly worded statement, UEFA added, "We express our disbelief at such an unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable decision."
The Belgian government also reportedly bristled at the decision, calling it "incomprehensible."