The Trump Curse Strikes Again as USA Crashes Out of the World Cup Hours After He Meddled with FIFA
The Trump curse just claimed its biggest victim yet: the entire US Men’s National Team.
The USA’s World Cup dream ended Monday night with a humiliating 4-1 loss to Belgium in the Round of 16, and it came just hours after Trump personally inserted himself into the tournament. Trump said he asked FIFA president Gianni Infantino to review star striker Folarin Balogun’s red card, sparking accusations that the US president was interfering in the tournament. FIFA caved, Balogun played, and the Americans got blown off the pitch anyway.
Belgium’s coach Rudi Garcia positioned his team as defending the sport itself against Trump and Infantino, and his players delivered. Much of the world took open joy in the US humiliation after the Balogun controversy, turning what should have been a home-soil celebration into a global punchline.
Sports fans are calling it the Trump curse, and the receipts keep piling up. He attended the Super Bowl and predicted a Chiefs win, and the Eagles blew them out. He showed up when the Commanders hosted the Lions, and they lost at home. He watched from a suite as Miami fell in the College Football National Championship. He sat in the owner’s suite the night the Knicks snapped their playoff streak in NBA Finals Game 3. He attended the Ryder Cup, and Europe topped the US team.
Every time Trump shows up or sticks his fingers into a sporting event, America loses. This time he did not just attend. He picked up the phone, strong-armed FIFA, and put his stamp all over the team. The result was the worst US World Cup exit in memory, on home soil, in front of the entire world.