The U.S. Men’s National Team player for whom President Donald Trump sought to overturn a red-card suspension is a birthright citizen — a status the president has long attempted to eliminate.
Star forward Folarin Balogun received a red card after stepping on another player’s ankle during the U.S. match against Bosnia-Herzegovina on Wednesday, resulting in an automatic one-game suspension.
After the match, the Republican president called FIFA President Gianni Infantino to ask that the organization review the penalty, The New York Times reported. On Sunday, FIFA announced that the suspension had been lifted, clearing Balogun to play in Monday’s round of 16 match against Belgium.
“Thank you to FIFA for doing what was right, and reversing a great injustice!” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Sunday afternoon.
The reversal — which appeared to mark the first time a red card had not resulted in a suspension in a World Cup since 1962 — drew swift criticism elsewhere.
The Royal Belgian Football Association described the move as astonishing and said it would be “investigating all potential options.” Belgium coach Rudi Garcia responded: “I think it’s the first time in the history of the World Cup that there is this kind of decision.”
One striking irony is that Balogun is only eligible to play on the U.S. team because he is a birthright citizen.
Balogun — who has scored three goals in the 2026 World Cup — has said he was born in New York City while his Nigerian-born parents were visiting the U.S., NBC News reported. His pregnant mother was traveling through the city when she was barred from boarding a flight to England. Weeks later, he was born in Brooklyn.
In addition to his U.K. and Nigerian citizenships, Balogun holds American citizenship by virtue of the Fourteenth Amendment, ratified in 1868, which grants citizenship to those born or naturalized in the U.S.
Trump has long opposed birthright citizenship.
On his first day back in office, he signed an executive order declaring that children born in the U.S. would not automatically receive citizenship, including those whose mothers were in the country temporarily or unlawfully.
Last week, the Supreme Court struck down the president’s order in a 5-4 ruling, delivering a major setback to his immigration agenda. Soon after, Trump took to Truth Social to rage against the decision.
“The Supreme Court upheld Birthright Citizenship, which is too bad for our Country, but we can easily make it up in Congress through Legislation, with the support of the President,” Trump wrote. “No long and unwieldy Constitutional Amendment is necessary! Congress should start TODAY to work on ending expensive and unfair to our Country, Birthright Citizenship.”
Trump has repeatedly claimed the U.S. is the only country with birthright citizenship. In fact, 32 other nations around the world — most of which are in the Western Hemisphere — have similar laws granting citizenship to those born there, according to the Pew Research Center.
According to a Reuters survey conducted in April, 64 percent of Americans oppose ending birthright citizenship, while 32 percent favor scrapping it.