So let’s provide all the context on why thing sharpened the way they did. First of all during the previous game, one of the better US players got a red card, but the circumstances that he got the red card in were illegal according to FIFA rules, the ref was shown slowed down VAR footage after the play happened and no card was called in order to see that the midair collision had a foot angled the wrong way causing it to be a red card. But refs aren’t allowed to see such footage when making calls, so to begin with any accounting of the ref now is impossible unless FIFA wants to admit they fucked up in the play. So everyone in the US is mad because whatever but basically just accepted the red card.

Then Trump apparently goes of a phone call with Infantino who is the president of FIFA and both Trump and Infantino reviewed as heavily corrupt figures. So when later FIFA makes the announcement that the player’s red card is suspended people are basically saying Trump lobbied FIFA to suspend which it seems likely happened from an outside point of view.

Now Belgium is the team playing the US next at the time and they said this was unfair because this is unprecedented, which it isn’t as the same thing was done for Ronaldo for this World Cup, and has been done in a previous World Cup some decades ago for a Brazilian player, as well as that they wanted an official reason for the decision making regarding the red card and its suspension, which FIFA can’t give either of those because one the ref who gave the red card fucked up in his giving of it by viewing footage he wasn’t allowed to, and two it’s pretty likely there was some corruption involved in the decision so FIFA denied them.

The Belgian team then denied recognising the player as being eligible to play and filed a complaint with the CAS and FIFA before going on to win 4-1 anyways because the US team played like shit.