Belgium midfielder Nicolas Raskin said his side’s 4-1 World Cup last-16 win over the US on Monday felt like a measure of justice after Fifa’s decision to allow US striker Folarin Balogun to play despite his red card in the previous game.
Balogun had been sent off against Bosnia and Herzegovina in the round of 32, and while a dismissal normally carries an automatic one-match suspension, Fifa suspended the ban under Article 27 of its Disciplinary Code after US President Donald Trump asked Fifa president Gianni Infantino to review the case.
Infantino said Fifa’s judicial bodies operated “independently and autonomously” and he had told Trump the Balogun case was subject to an ongoing legal process.
Fifa’s disciplinary committee said it had the authority to suspend the one-match ban.
The decision triggered widespread criticism, including from Belgium’s football federation, which unsuccessfully challenged Balogun’s eligibility hours before kickoff.
Belgium, however, made the controversy irrelevant on the pitch, sweeping aside the hosts 4-1 to reach the quarterfinals.
“I think there was always justice somewhere in life, and the fact that something can happen like that, you can put it how you want, but we don’t think that was fair,” Raskin told reporters.
“Today I think it brings us a bit of luck. We needed to win the game and the message throughout.”
The team’s Instagram account posted a photo of Romelu Lukaku celebrating after scoring Belgium’s fourth goal with the caption: “Overturn this.”
Belgium coach Rudi Garcia, however, played down the row in his post-match press conference when asked if it had fuelled his players.
“No, it wasn’t needed or necessary. What really mattered to us is our game plan,” he said, adding he had spoken to Balogun after the final whistle.
“He came to talk to me. I really like that,” he said.
“It’s not his fault, he’s not the one to blame, and that’s what I told him.”
Belgium will face Spain in Los Angeles on Friday for a place in the semifinals.
US coach Mauricio Pochettino said his side failed to show their true level and declined to blame off-field distractions for the hosts’ exit.
“We didn’t show our real quality as a team,” Pochettino told a press conference.
“We never connected with the game. Belgium were better than us, and that’s it.
“It was a very bad day. It wasn’t our day, collectively or individually.
“In a tournament like the World Cup, when that happens in a knockout stage, you are out and you need to go home.
“Even when we scored, in the next action we conceded,” he said. “Normally you cannot concede in that moment.”
Pochettino rejected suggestions that controversy surrounding Balogun’s availability had affected the team’s performance.
“We were not good enough today. We don’t need to find excuses,” he said.
“All that was happening was around, but it wasn’t a situation that affected us.”
Pochettino’s contract expires after the World Cup, and he said no decision had been made on whether he would continue.
“Now is a moment to rest a bit, to think, to have conversations and then see what the decision is from the federation and from us.”
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