Donald Trump reacts to England's World Cup win over Mexico following red card controversy
It looks like Donald Trump might have a new favourite footballer... and it's not Folarian Balogun.
The US president is not usually one to comment on football, but it looks like he might be getting a taste for the sport.
That's what a World Cup can do to you.
Trump reportedly reached out to FIFA president Gianni Infantino ahead of FIFA's decision to suspend Folarin Balogun's one-game ban and allow the striker to play against Belgium.
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Balogun was sent off against Bosnia and Herzegovina in the last 32, which comes with automatic one-match ban or, at least, it usually does.
Instead, FIFA have decided to allow him to play after U.S. Soccer reportedly launched a legal challenge on the basis of how VAR was applied to come to the dismissal.
Maybe England should ask if Jarell Quansah can play in the next game, eh?
The farcical decision has been slammed by an 'astonished' Belgium and all corners of the footballing world, other than the USA, who are obviously quite happy with it.
Trump took to Truth Social to thank FIFA for lifting the ban, writing: "Thank you to Fifa for doing what was right, and reversing a great injustice! President DONALD J. TRUMP."
But now Trump's interests are even going beyond his own country's side as he's made a comment on England's heroic win over Mexico.
Donald Trump labels one England player as 'GREAT'
Fighting altitude, over 80,000 rabid fans and thunderstorms in the fortress of the Azteca, England battled to a 3-2 win over Mexico in the last 16.
It eventually transpired that Harry Kane got the winning goal, with the captain fantastic ignoring all the noise and underhand tactics of the opponents to coolly dispatch a penalty.
Trump was clearly left impressed by the striker, as he took to his own social media platform Truth Social to pay him a huge compliment.
"Harry Kane of England is a GREAT player!!!" Trump wrote.
There was far more to the game than Kane's winner, though, as the nerve-shredding triumph will go down as a certified World Cup classic.
Jude Bellingham quietened a deafening Azteca when he scored two goals in two minutes, but Mexico did not go down without a fight.
Julian Quinones fired back before the break and England looked in real trouble when Quansah was shown a red card for a reckless tackle.
Kane scored from the spot to restore a two-goal lead, but nine minutes later he gave away a penalty at the other end, which was scored by Raul Jimenez.
That set up more than 30 minutes of back-to-the-wall, all-on-the-line defending, with John Stones, Dan Burn and Djed Spence all making sensational last-ditch tackles to keep England ahead.
The full-time whistle sparked emotional celebrations, but there was some bad news as Jordan Henderson suffered a serious arm injury after appearing to fall while climbing over an advertising board.
Though manager Thomas Tuchel was angry with the refereeing after the match, he couldn't help but be overjoyed with the win.
"If a team has heart and belief, then it’s this team. They did it on pure will," the manager said.
"I have no words. That’s an iconic match, an iconic stadium. We overcame so much adversity today. Very proud."
Next up, England will climb down from the heights of Mexico City into the heat of Miami, where they'll face Norway - who dumped out Brazil thanks to two Erling Haaland goals - in the quarter-finals.
Topics: Donald Trump, World Cup, Football, Sport
Daniel Murphy