Secretary of State Marco Rubio turned Team USA’s World Cup celebration into a demand for soccer justice after a controversial red card threatened to overshadow a historic American win.
The morning after the U.S. men’s national team’s 2-0 victory, Rubio framed the controversy like a fan still fuming over the call. “It was great,” Rubio remarked.
The praise quickly turned into a demand for a way to challenge the card.
“They got screwed with that red card. There needs to be an appeal process for that,” Rubio added.
REPORTER: “What about your thoughts on the [U.S.] soccer team?”
SECRETARY RUBIO: “It was great.”
“They got screwed with that red card. There needs to be an appeal process for that.”
“It’s probably too late for that.” pic.twitter.com/6JjBLTXoMU
— Fox News (@FoxNews) July 2, 2026
By the time Wednesday’s match in Santa Clara, California, turned chaotic, Folarin Balogun had already scored his third goal of the tournament before the challenge on Bosnian defender Tarik Muharemović sent him off.
The review cut against Balogun, showing his cleat drag down Muharemović’s leg, calf and foot after the two players went for the same ball. Muharemović, an Italian Serie A player, was visibly hurt.
The Americans had to finish the game down a man, and Balogun’s red card also triggered a Monday suspension.
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Even without their top scorer, the U.S. left San Francisco Bay Area Stadium with a 2-0 round-of-32 victory over Bosnia-Herzegovina, only the program’s second win in a World Cup knockout game.
The only previous one was the 2002 Round of 16 victory over Mexico by the same 2-0 score.
Balogun’s night had started as a showcase rather than a controversy. An offside flag erased one finish, but he later broke through in first-half stoppage time by spinning inside the box and beating Nikola Vasilj with his left foot.
His celebration nodded to LeBron James’ signature step move as the pro-American crowd roared.
The second goal came from a late set piece after Sergiño Dest was held just outside the box by Stjepan Radelijic.
Malik Tillman turned the chance into the clincher, curling the free kick beyond Vasilj and the wall for the 2-0 cushion.
After his own review, USMNT head coach Mauricio Pochettino rejected the red-card decision outright.
“It was a normal action in football that happened by accident. There was never any intention … and that is why, for me, it is never a red card,” Pochettino argued.
His first instinct was to look for a challenge route. “We need to talk about if we can appeal,” Pochettino insisted. “It would be fair to appeal and demonstrate that it wasn’t a red card.”
That hope did not last through the press conference, where reporters pointed him to FIFA’s no-appeal rule for this type of sending off.
The automatic-ban language is written directly into FIFA’s rule book.
“If a player or team official is sent off as a result of a direct or indirect red card [for a second yellow card], they will automatically be suspended from their team’s subsequent match,” the rule book states.
The Athletic also put the issue to rest through a FIFA official, who said the suspension cannot be appealed.
Balogun’s emotions, according to Pochettino, were split between the suspension and the result.
“He’s disappointed. He’s sad because it wasn’t his intention,” Pochettino acknowledged. “But he’s also happy because we qualified.”
The outrage stretched beyond the locker room. Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr joined the pile-on.
“Red card there is a total bunk,” Carr posted.
The online jokes quickly shifted from officiating to President Donald Trump’s relationship with FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
Author Steve Magness framed Trump’s first-of-its-kind FIFA Peace Prize as a supposed bargaining chip on X.
“Donald Trump needs to use his FIFA Peace Prize to pressure FIFA into rescinding the ultimate birthright citizen Flo Balogun’s red card so he can play against Belgium,” Magness posted.
The prize itself had come from Infantino in December.
Another post treated the honor as useless if it could not help Balogun.
“If Trump can’t get this red card for Balogun rescinded what did that FIFA Peace Prize even mean???” the fan cracked.
In a June studio appearance on “Fox & Friends,” Infantino laid out Trump’s planned role at the final.
“We will be together with the president enjoying the final and handing the trophy to the winner, of course, together,” Infantino told the hosts.
Their trophy-stage partnership already had a test run at the same New Jersey stadium last year, after Chelsea’s 3-0 win over Paris Saint-Germain in the FIFA Club World Cup Final.
Since returning to office, Trump has strengthened ties with Infantino and set up the White House Task Force for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with Andrew Giuliani as executive director. He has not yet attended a World Cup match.
Rubio has already shown up for the tournament, attending the June 12 USMNT opener against Paraguay, which the Americans won 4-1.
The political VIP presence continued Wednesday, when Infantino sat with Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, Trump’s personal friend and business partner, while the U.S. beat Bosnia-Herzegovina.
The win also drew enormous television numbers, with Fox Sports’ preliminary report showing 24.429 million average viewers on Fox and Telemundo reporting 9.1 million viewers over the full game window. Fox said the English-language broadcast peaked at 31.883 million.
The shorthanded U.S. now heads back to Seattle for Belgium, fresh off a comeback from 2-0 down against Senegal that ended in extra time.