After the USA’s humiliating World Cup elimination, frustrated American soccer supporters have shifted some of their anger toward President Trump following a 4-1 loss to Belgium.
The World Cup co-hosts were knocked out on Monday night, undone by a poor display against their European opponents in Seattle.
Mauricio Pochettino’s team struggled to cope with Belgium’s relentless attack, spearheaded by Charles De Ketelaere, who struck twice and also provided an assist.
Making matters worse for the Americans, USA players and fans were left watching as Belgium’s squad appeared to mock Trump during their celebrations on the pitch.
While some US fans were furious at Belgium’s apparent digs at Trump, others joined in online, posting scathing comments of their own across social media.
Those supporters highlighted Trump’s controversial role in the lead-up to the match, after he reportedly phoned FIFA President Gianni Infantino to seek another review of the one-game suspension given to striker Folarin Balogun in the USA’s previous outing.
Supporters have pointed the finger at Donald Trump after the USA’s embarrassing World Cup exit on Monday night
Trump drew criticism after contacting FIFA President Gianni Infantino to request a review of a US player’s red card, which was later overturned. The USA still fell to a 4-1 defeat
Infantino, who has become close friends with President Trump, duly obliged and eventually suspended Balogun’s ban – but in the end, it didn’t matter.
Taking to X after the game, one fan wrote: ‘Trump managed to turn a World Cup that was honestly turning into a major US PR victory into a total national humiliation.’
Another wrote: ‘Why Trump’s red card scheme was the worst distraction Team USA could get: Trump made the World Cup all about him just 24 hours before our biggest match ever. No US soccer fan can ever forgive Trump for tarnishing the amazing run of US men’s world cup team.’
‘Trump calling the FIFA president and the US still loses shows you never win when you play dirty,’ another frustrated supporter said on the social media platform.
Similarly, another said: ‘Amazing how the World Cup was doing a legitimately good job of bringing the world together and rehabilitating the USA’s reputation, now all anybody will remember is Trump’s political interference. The world is indeed united, but now it’s against the American cheats. Such a shame.’
‘The best US men’s team ever loses to Belgium. If they’d advanced, there would have been an asterisk next to their victory because of Donald’s interference,’ one fan said.
‘He casts a shadow over everything. He can only win if he cheats, and he thinks that applies to everybody else. Sad,’ they added.
While the majority of fans pointed to Trump’s direct involvement in the USA’s World Cup campaign, others simply noted his terrible track record while attending games.
One fan noted: ‘Cause and effect. Knicks have a historic 13 game postseason winning streak. Trump shows up. Falls asleep. Knicks lose. USMNT in the round of 16. Trump leans on FIFA to vacate the Balogun red card. The team has a nightmare game. Pulisic gets injured,’ they wrote. ‘Everything. Trump. Touches. Dies’.
Furious fans ran to social media to poke fun at President Trump’s involvement in the matter
The USA squad huddle on the field to hear from coach Pochettino after being dumped out
Within 20 minutes of the final whistle, Belgium’s X account posted, ‘Overturn this,’ alongside a photo of Romelu Lukaku celebrating scoring the team’s fourth goal in the final minutes of the game.
It was a savage nod to FIFA’s decision to suspend Balogun’s ban at the apparent behest of the President.
To add insult to injury, Belgium’s stars performed the ‘Trump dance’ – the hand-jerking, hip-shimmying moves made famous by the President during his 2024 election campaign – following Lukaku’s goal.
The Red Devils were seen on the broadcast gathering in a circle at the goalline and mimicking the moves following the stoppage-time strike.
Trump is understood to have called FIFA president Infantino three times, starting the day after Balogun received a red card in the US game against Bosnia on July 1.
FIFA subsequently decided to suspend Balogun’s automatic one-match ban for a year, without explaining why – causing outrage.
Belgium could not resist mocking the USA after Florian Balogun’s red card controversy
Trump insists he did not know what a red card was – even though he was photographed with one at the White House during a meeting with Infantino in 2018 – but ‘asked for a review by FIFA’ after learning that Balogun would miss last night’s clash against Belgium.
The US President said: ‘He gave him a red card, I didn’t know what that meant. Then I started hearing that means he can’t play in the next game. I said, ‘Boy, that’s big’. You know, if it happened to another player it would’ve been unfair.
‘But when they take your best player, or just about… and they say you can’t play, that’s very unfair.
‘It’s one thing to penalise someone for a game. But how do you penalise them for a game they haven’t even played yet? It’s very unfair. You can’t do that. I spoke to Gianni. I asked for a review by FIFA. I’m good at this stuff – that wasn’t a foul.’
