The United States have been knocked out of the 2026 World Cup they are co-hosting, losing 4-1 to Belgium in Seattle. The defeat drew widespread mockery because it came shortly after FIFA, under pressure from President Donald Trump, overturned a red-card suspension for US striker Folarin Balogun — a move critics said undermined the integrity of the game. The controversy matters because it saw a political intervention override a sporting decision, only for the US to be heavily beaten anyway.

Belgium, who had been angered by the Balogun intervention, led the ridicule, posting a two-word message on their official social media: "Overturn this." Striker Romelu Lukaku and team-mates mocked Trump by mimicking his well-known "Trump dance" during celebrations, while a spokesman for the Iranian FA said "the whole world is dancing to celebrate politics' humiliating defeat by football." The saga has prompted England's FA to consider its own appeal to overturn a ban for Jarell Quansah, citing the Balogun precedent.