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Im far from a FIFA expert but was just going by the fact that they have an Appeals Committee and Belgiums response: "To date, the RBFA has still not received any grounds for this decision, nor has it received the information it has been requesting since the start of this procedure for a copy of the decision and the motivation declaring the player eligible as well as the referee’s report. Which is a breach of FIFA regulations"

True, a lot of States and banks printed their own money.... But, for a mature economy, you would think there should be the appearance of impartiality...the appearance at least... although, Goldman Sachs is generally embedded in the US government..LOL.

Id love to hear more about this, were you pro?

I can concede to this when I see it applied more frequently in the future, without political involvement. But I remain convinced if it was our player, there was no way we would be able to make FIFA make the same decision.

There is no appeal process in the World Cup. The US team did not and could not appeal.

The VAR is ready

Trump beat all of Congress by 3X. His folks must be so proud.

I agree it's a travesty the US President pushed on this. But you still ignore the rule that makes this a legitimate move by FIFA based on article 27. Now we can argue they might never have made the change without pressure from Trump (I would agree)...but the ability and latitude to do so still exists. So stop complaining about the "rules" not being followed and "fairness of application to all" and we can continue to bitch together about the intrusion of politics into the game. I hope FIFA reverses it and maintains the integrity of the game. But FIFAs integrity did not change with this call. It was already long gone....

I have yet to see anyone suggest that it was a good, fair call. And if it was overturned under the normal appeal process, everyone would probably have gone "good" and it wouldnt be an issue. Its the fact that FIFA bypassed the appeal process and didn't give Belgium a fair chance to respond that is the issue. Not to mention that all of that happened after the President (and FIFA Peace Prize winner) publicly announced that he called the FIFA head to overturn it. Ironically most people would have been on the US's side on this and now, as you point out, the US will have a big asterisk next to their name regardless of outcome.

For those guys it was a specific rule that suspensions do not carry from qualifiers to tournament.. this is why nobody gave a rats ass about it. Just as nobody cares if he plays or not, people care because this is a fkn US president enforcing rule-breaking favors during a world cup. That is the reality because if FIFA actually wanted to make this decision they would have done this way earlier. Also everyone agrees it wasn't red but this is always yellow. Claiming it wasnt even a foul makes you lose any credibility as far as the game is concerned mate.

Just like the US Congress intended! https://www.commoncause.org/articles/congress-made-over-635-million-in-stock-trades-while-americans-struggled-see-who-traded-the-most/

You think any other country, including the US, would act differently than Belgium in this situation?

Unprecedented doesn't mean incorrect. FIFA created Article 27 for a reason. Also it was created in 2023 so this is the first World Cup tournament it has been available for. You can't cherry pick rules.... @dwy000 @Kizion The rules are not being "fairly applied". You guys keep glossing over the Messi tackle that was much worse by all standards and it was reviewed by VAR team and no car was ruled. That is no being applied fairly. So if you are going to have tech to "improve the officiating of the game." Then use it fairly and accurately. If the ref isn't pulling a Yellow card in real time to make a call how the F can you say it's fair to make a call after you watch the replay and especially a Red? Plus VAR isn't supposed to be used in slow motion. FIFA explicitly stated this as a reason.

So why is Belgium complaining and not any of the other teams in the tourney? Just a coincidence? Or again maybe they don’t want to have the other teams best player in the game lmfao?

Just like the founding fathers intended: https://x.com/trumpsportfolio/status/2073278120988127654?s=46

So, let me make sure I understand. Everything was cool when Ronaldo, Caicedo, Otamendi and Salman had their bans suspended so they could play in the first and second games of the World Cup group stage? But the U.S. gets the same treatment and now its cheating? Spare me the pearl clutching about how "this time is different". - The ref was in excellent position to see the play and did not make the call during the run of play. - VAR showed conlusively that this was not one player intenionally stomping on the other player as they both came down. - Issuing a red card for this demonstrates a clear lack of understanding of Law 12, AND a lack of understanding about the background around why studs-up challenges are penalized, and when yellow cards should be issued instead of red cards. This shouldn't even have been a foul. I say that as someone who saw (and was on the receiving end of) plenty of studs-up challenges, and stomping, while playing in Italy and in the United States.

Article 66.4 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code: A player sent off (direct or indirect red card) is automatically suspended for the team's next match. This is meant to be straightforward and non-discretionary for red cards. Article 10.5 of the FIFA World Cup 2026 Competition Regulations: Explicitly states that a red card results in automatic suspension for the subsequent match, with possible further sanctions. FIFA World Cup 2026 Circular No. 16: Reinforces the automatic one-match suspension following a red card. The core complaint is that FIFA used a general provision (Article 27) to override specific, automatic tournament rules designed for consistency and fairness. This is seen as unprecedented in this context, especially for a high-stakes World Cup knockout game, and potentially influenced by external factors (e.g., reports of U.S. presidential involvement). (AI copy paste)

What rule was broken?

that was probably the case before the creation of Federal Reserve. enjoy your stay

Yes indeed. It's a very good thing for Europe to grown up and learn to take care of themselves.

I can link u several Belgian papers if you want to translate from Dutch or French. He is right, we are merely following official procedures for consistency in the rules. Not all of us have a direct phone line to the FIFA president...

How does wanting the rules to be applied consistently for all aligns to being called a coward? If you have balls and don't act like a little girl who calls daddy to intervene, you could just have accepted the rules of the game as a big boy and challenged us with your integrity intact. I see other americans calling Belgium out for not wanting to compete with the best team - stupid irrelevant

Times have changed .... individual countries within NATO are intentionally reducing reliance on US weaponry, which is not a bad thing. Poland now produces HIMARS ammunition, NATO countries favour European over US fighters, Canada produces artillery shells for NATO, Ukraine supplies (air/sea) drones to NATO, etc, etc. Everything compatible with US systems, but the benefits outside of the US. Advanced fighters/bombers are expensive, high maintenance, require frequent software upgrades and replacement parts; whoever you buy from, owns you. So ... you buy from friends, you can trust instead. https://en.defence-ua.com/industries/while_us_does_not_allow_production_of_rockets_for_himars_poland_to_produce_ammunition_for_its_analogue_k239_homar_k-19037.html SD

Following the rules is acting like cowards but having your president call the head of FIFA is integrity? As @Castanza pointed out, it is the US that are going to have the asterisk next to their name here not Belgium. We look like sore losers regardless of how bad the original call.

You denied they're lobbying to prevent the other team's best player from playing. Nothing further is needed discussion wise. Belgium is the better team; better off to just shut up and beat them with whatever they put on the field instead of acting like cowards. Then again maybe it’s just a reflection of the sport; where flailing and diving around is encouraged, to draw penalty shots with 90% chance of scoring to mitigate all the other dumb rules and deficiencies that make it otherwise near impossible to score 2 goals in 100 minutes lol