Trump Asked FIFA to Review Balogun's Suspension. He Is Now Eligible to Play.

[demmiblue]

President Trump called Gianni Infantino, the president of FIFA, on Wednesday and asked him to review the suspension of the United States’ top goal scorer, Folarin Balogun, after he was given a red card in the team’s match that night against Bosnia and Herzegovina, according to three people familiar with the conversation.

On Sunday, FIFA announced that Mr. Balogun would be eligible to play Monday against Belgium after it reversed the suspension.

The reversal is highly unusual and the first time since 1962 that FIFA has allowed a player to appear in a game when they would have been suspended. It also comes as 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.

FIFA did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Pascale Van Damme, the president of the Belgian federation, did not reply to a message seeking comment.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/05/us/trump-fifa-balogun-world-cup.html