Despite the previous controversy surrounding the match between the United States and Belgium due to the suspension of the sanction of Balogun after the call from Donald Trump to Gianni Infantino, the European team was far superior on the field and achieved a resounding 4-1 victory that will lead them to face Spain in the quarterfinals.
Team USA succumbed to the goals of Charles De Ketelaere, who scored a brace, Hans Vanaken, and Romelu Lukaku, who sealed the victory in stoppage time. The historic Belgian goal scorer had come on in the second half and starred in the most symbolic celebration of the night. First, he covered his ears and headed towards the corner. There, he began to perform the characteristic dance of Donald Trump, a move that his teammates joined in.
Perhaps it was an act of rebellion against the intervention of the American president to allow his star to play, who could do little against the Belgian superiority. Malik Tillman scored the only goal for the Americans, which equalized the score at one, but a minute later, the Belgians took the lead again.
Belgium's captain, Youri Tielemans, acknowledged that his team had "a lot of anger" due to FIFA's controversial decision. "We're not going to hide it, we had a meeting when we found out the news. We said we had to talk on the field. That's what we did today. I'm very proud of the team," said the midfielder to RTBF, as reported by Afp.
"We were really angry, eager to start well, something we had been missing since the start of the tournament. We knew that if we put them under pressure, they would make mistakes," he added.
Meanwhile, coach Rudi Garcia stated that the Balogun case "did not influence" the final result.