US striker Folarin Balogun left no impact on the game – Image: Manu Fernandez/AP Photo/picture alliance

The striker left little impact on the game as the US became the last FIFA World Cup co-host to be eliminated from the tournament.

Belgium secured its place in the World Cup quarterfinals after beating the US 4-1 in Seattle.

Atalanta attacker Charles de Ketelaere scored twice for Belgium, with Hans Vanaken scoring the third after a mistake by US goalkeeper Matt Freese.

Romelu Lukaku added the fourth in stoppage time after another mistake in the US defense

Germany-born Malik Tillman temporarily equalized for the US in the 31st minute.

The defeat signals the end of the US’ World Cup campaign, marking the last host country to have been eliminated.

Belgium will face Spain in Los Angeles on Friday, July 10.

FIFA decision causes uproar

The game was overshadowed by FIFA’s decision to overturn a red card received by US striker Folarin Balogun, who featured in the US’ starting eleven for the game without leaving any impact.

US President Donald Trump admitted to having spoken with FIFA President Gianni Infantino about Balogun’s red card, which would have prompted a ban from the last 16 game against Belgium, with world football’s governing body later announcing the red card as suspended for one year.

FIFA’s own statutes forbid any kind of governmental or political interference with the work and decision making of its member associations, with world football’s governing body previously sanctioning national associations for such interference taking place.

Kuwait and Indonesia, for example, were disqualified from the 2018 World Cup qualifiers due to governmental interference in the two countries’ respective football associations.

Belgium defeated the US in a match overshadowed by controversy – Image: Ercin Erturk/Anadolu/picture alliance

Infantino, Trump defend decision

Infantino claimed the decision had been made by FIFA’s disciplinary committee and that Trump’s phone call had no influence on it.

“During our conversation I explained that there was an ongoing legal process,” Infantino said in a statement, adding that FIFA’s judicial bodies are independent.

“This is how FIFA’s system works and it is a principle I will always uphold,” he said.

Trump, too, said he had only asked for the red card to be reviewed.

Belgium’s football association appealed the decision ahead of the game, but its appeal was rejected by FIFA.

FIFA’s decision caused large-scale criticism across world football, including by European football’s governing body UEFA and many national associations and high-profile figures across the game.

DW.com/NAN 07-07-26

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Does football need FIFA and its World Cup?

Gianni Infantino has drawn plenty of external criticism, but appears untouchable within FIFA – Image: Takuya Yoshino/AP Photo/picture alliance

Though the popularity of the World Cup continues to grow, its organizing body, FIFA, has arguably never been less popular. So why does football still need FIFA? And is there any way out?

The eyes of the world are, once again, glued to the World Cup. Overwhelmingly, they are on Lionel Messi’s goal-scoring record, a Cape Verdean goalkeeper who shot to fame or viral clips of fans.

It’s a familiar and understandable diversion of attention from the issues that dominated the buildup. Many Argentine fans were denied visas to attend the tournament and see Messi make history, Vozinha’s mother was only granted a visa bond waiver to the country after her son’s heroics for Cape Verde, and those fans seen on TV are often the lucky few rich enough to afford outrageous ticket prices.

Infantino, Trump relationship has eroded trust

Several factors have contributed to growing frustration with FIFA.

The decision to award US President Donald Trump FIFA’s inaugural Peace Prize last December, shortly before Trump started a war with tournament participant Iran, was reportedly a unilateral move by FIFA President Gianni Infantino and has further eroded trust both within and outside the organization.

FIFA employ a rotation policy for World Cup hosting — that means each confederation should host a tournament in turn, with the exception of Oceania, which lacks the facilities since Australia began playing in Asian competition. But with matches in the 2030 World Cup scheduled in Europe, Africa and South America, that cleared the way for Saudi Arabia to be awarded the 2034 tournament unchallenged and much earlier than Asia would otherwise have been due, in 2042.

With Infantino set to exceed the usual presidential term limit of 12 years, again likely unopposed, frustration with FIFA is at an all-time high, according to many observers. But can anything be done?

US President Donald Trump was front and center when Chelsea lifted last year’s Club World Cup trophy – Image: Seth Wenig/AP/picture alliance

How does FIFA maintain its power?

FIFA is responsible for the game’s global development but also acts as its commercial operator, a system many governance experts have questioned.

The World Cup is its key financial driver, though the recently revamped and expanded Club World Cup is now another key contributor. That competition has led to widespread complaints from players and player unions about a congested calendar that makes unreasonable demands.

“I don’t think the players are listened to that much, if I’m totally honest,” said Bayern Munich and England striker Harry Kane last year.

Structurally, each of the 211 member nations (which sit in six continental federations), gets a single vote for the president every four years. These member associations are then financially rewarded, to a greater or lesser degree, through various schemes and programs.

“The commercial dimension is the bedrock of FIFA’s system of power. The money is used by the presidents to accumulate and consolidate their power,” Miguel Maduro, a former chairman of FIFA’s Governance, Audit and Compliance Committee, told DW. He was dismissed from the post in 2017 after attempting to enforce political neutrality rules regarding Russia.

“It’s what supports the system of patronage through which presidents reward those loyal to them and punish anyone that dares criticize anything. It explains why incumbent presidents are never challenged and stay in power indefinitely.”

Can politics and the EU force change?

Like Maduro, Nick McGeehan, of human rights NGO FairSquare, agrees that any reform would have to be imposed upon FIFA. And with individual member nations not incentivized or able to drive change, he is calling on the European Union to take up the fight.

“It requires political intervention. There is no other way to fix FIFA,” he told DW.

“I think the most obvious example would be the European Union, who could regulate and govern sport the way they regulate other things like Big Tech.”

FairSquare have filed a complaint with the Investigatory Chamber to the FIFA Ethics Committee over Infantino’s dealings with Trump while, separately, fan group Football Supporters Europe (FSE) and advocacy group Euroconsumers filed a complaint about ticket prices to the European Commission shortly before the World Cup.

A commission spokesperson would not be drawn on whether the EU might take on FIFA, telling DW only that the FSE and Euroconsumers complaint was being dealt with “in line with our standard procedures.”

Asked whether they might intervene in the various questionable World Cup ticket practices, the spokesperson went on to confirm that EU laws “do not regulate the price levels for goods and services, such as event tickets.” But added that: “Traders must adequately inform consumers about the total price of their offers and avoid misleading commercial practices, such as making attractive starting price claims for tickets that are not available or pressure-selling techniques while consumers wait in the virtual queue.”

Though definitive political action is so far thin on the ground, McGeehan retains hope.

“There is going to be a politician somewhere who recognizes the political value of taking people on and actually trying to hold them accountable. And I find that quite an exciting prospect, because I think it’s inevitable right now.”

Lionel Messi became the World Cup’s all-time top scorer during the 2026 group stage – Image: Maria Lysaker/IMAGN Images/REUTERS

Might UEFA and FIFA tensions force a breakaway?

While it operates under FIFA’s umbrella, there are simmering tensions between FIFA and the powerful European federation, UEFA. They were laid bare in UEFA’s hiring of Somalian referee Omar Artan for the Super Cup final, days after he’d been refused entry to the US to officiate at the World Cup.

“Football is made to connect people,” said UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin.

Last year, UEFA delegates walked out of the FIFA Congress, accusing Infantino of prioritizing “private political interests” after turning up late from a diplomatic tour of the Middle East alongside Trump.

“There are tensions between UEFA and FIFA, and UEFA are a huge confederation and have the ear of some of the biggest and the most historic footballing nations. So if there was any form of breakaway within football it would have to come from UEFA or a number of UEFA nations getting together,” Geoff Walters, a professor in sports business at the University of Liverpool in the UK, told DW.

“But it’s hard in the context of football politics to put your head above that parapet because you get shot down. If you do say something, then what does it mean? Is it going to harm your chances of hosting competitions, which can be beneficial? Does it mean that you are ostracized from the international community?”

Germany serve as an example of this. After team members covered their mouths in a political gesture at their first match in Qatar in 2022, the team and federation have rowed back on their support of political causes, possibly with a hosting bid for World Cup 2034 or 2038 in mind.

UEFA themselves had to deal with the threat of an elite-club-driven breakaway Super League in 2021 and the legal issues that followed. Maduro said the organization “suffers from that same governance flaws as FIFA, albeit in a less obvious and radical manner.”

Cape Verde earned draws against Spain, Uruguay and Saudi Arabia – Image: Marco Bello/REUTERS

What’s in a FIFA breakaway for the rest of the world?

UEFA’s standing with the rest of the world’s federations may also have been weakened by Ceferin’s reported recent comments that the expanded World Cup makes a lot of matches “completely uninteresting.” A coalition of 13 football associations from Africa and Asia said they “firmly reject” the comments reported by Zurnal24 online newspaper in Ceferin’s native Slovenia.

The prestige and power of Europe and South America, particularly Brazil and Argentina, is also not as strong as it may seem compared to Infantino’s power base in Asia and Africa. Walters said this is another reason why a breakaway appears a distant possibility.

“If it was spearheaded by leading nations, what would happen to the smaller nations across the world? What would happen to their ability to develop football in their countries?

“That’s part of the challenge with global sport that we’re seeing, not just in the context of the World Cup, but in the context of a lot of sporting leagues, where you are seeing the bigger teams starting to look to push and break away. They want to maintain the largest slice of the pie, of the commercial income and revenues that are coming into that sport,” he said.

Is FIFA reaching areas others can’t?

While many others have questioned those commercial motivations, Infantino has insisted they are for the greater good.

“Every dollar we generate goes back into football,” he told reporters on the eve of the tournament on June 10. “If we were selling our TV rights to pay-TV, like everyone else, we would generate four times as much revenue. And we could give all the tickets away, but they would still end up on the black market.

“As FIFA president we have to strike a balance. We invest in countries where no one else does — South Sudan, Bhutan. No one else is doing this.”

For now, that much is true. In football terms, no one else has the remit or the money. And, given how deeply FIFA is entrenched within the sport, the chances of a breakaway seem slim.

Although discontent has rarely been higher, unless a federation, alliance of countries or prominent individual grasps the nettle, the chances of reform seem only marginally less slim than before.

DW.com 02-07-26

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