Spain forward Lamine Yamal (19) fires a shot as he gets ahead of Portugal defender Nuno Mendes (25) during the first half of a World Cup round of 16 match at Dallas Stadium in Arlington, July 6, 2026.
Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News
Spain forward Lamine Yamal (19) brings the ball up field as he’s pursued by Portugal defender Rúben Dias (3) during the first half of a World Cup round of 16 match at Dallas Stadium in Arlington, July 6, 2026.
Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News
Portugal goalkeeper Diego Costa (1) makes a save during the World Cup Round of 16 match at Dallas Stadium in Arlington, on Monday, July 6, 2026.
Angela Piazza/The Dallas Morning News
Spanish and Portuguese fans arrived at Dallas Stadium sporting opposing jerseys, but united over one thing — their shared outrage over FIFA’s decision to suspend Folarin Balogun’s red card.
Star U.S. forward Folarin Balogun received a red card for stepping on the ankle of a Bosnian player last Wednesday. The red card triggers an automatic one-game suspension, leaving the U.S. team without one of its most prolific players as they face Belgium in the knockout round.
But Bolagun will still join his teammates on the pitch this evening, thanks to a certain Team U.S.A. fan in the Oval Office. President Donald Trump called FIFA president Gianni Infantino after the game to ask for a review, Trump confirmed to a pool of reporters Monday morning.
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“So I saw the play, and I’m a person who loves sports and was a good athlete, and I understand sports really well — really well,” Trump said. “And that wasn’t a foul, that wasn’t even an infraction.”
While Infantino wrote that the decision was made independently and autonomously, Trump praised the overturning as a “really brilliant decision.” But Spanish and Portuguese fans weren’t so sure.
“It’s not fair that the competition does not have the same rules for everyone,” said Danny Mena, a fan visiting Dallas from Spain. “It’s not against the USA, but it wasn’t necessary to do this at this time.”
Mena, who has attended five other World Cup tournaments, said he was not surprised that the host team was awarded with an advantage.
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“I’m always scared of the host teams, they always receive some kind of help,” he said.
Samuel Pinto, a Portuguese fan who travelled to Dallas from Canada, also believed the overturning gives the U.S. an unfair advantage. Despite his indignation over the change, Pinto believed last Wednesday’s red card was the wrong call.
“It shouldn’t have been a red, but now you’re crossing a line,” he said. “Are we going to start looking at every single game to see what card was wrong? It happened, the ref messed up, and like every other time, we leave it.”
But Winslow Horne, a U.S. fan from Houston, said overturning the red card was the right call, pointing to a similar situation with Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo. The forward received a red card during Portugal’s World Cup qualifier, and the FIFA Disciplinary Committee suspended his suspension so Ronaldo could play during the tournament.
“We’ve seen this precedent a couple times,” Horne said. “They had a third party do the whole investigation, and I think we’re very fortunate it happened to us — he’s our best player”
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Austin Lopez, a Ronaldo fan, added that he and Horne felt “fortunate as U.S.A. fans” that the suspension was lifted. But he worries that Team U.S.A. will be dogged by cheating allegations if they continue to advance in the tournament.
“If we do win, I don’t want anyone to doubt the legitimacy of that,” Lopez said.
Some fans are worried about more than just the stain on the U.S. record. Juan Carlos, who flew to Dallas from Spain to cheer on his team, said FIFA’s decision to lift the red card suspension mars the reputation of the entire tournament.
“Up there, between Trump and Infantino, we don’t know what happened,” Carlos said. “If they did do it, then that’s very bad.”
In the end, Mena said, the decision affects more than just the U.S. or Belgian teams. He believes it affects the integrity of the World Cup itself.
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“Competition should be fair for everyone,” Mena said.