It probably wasn't a question Secretary of State Marco Rubio was expecting, but it sounds like he was prepared.
He was heading into a meeting with Chilean Foreign Minister Francisco Pérez Mackenna, when a reporter threw out a question for Rubio during a reception room handshake between the two men at the State Department on Monday morning.
"Mr. Secretary, what’s your reaction to FIFA reversing the red card suspension after pressure?" a male voice asked off-camera.
As RedState wrote earlier, there wasn't any pressure. President Trump said during an Oval Office gaggle that, yes, he did call FIFA President Gianni Infantino over the soccer governing body's decision to give top USMNT (U.S. Men's National Team) starter Folarin Balogun a red card, yanking him from the World Cup match against Bosnia and Herzegovina, and suspending him from playing in the next round's game against Belgium. Trump thought it was a bad call, and asked for a review. And Infantino was clear, also; any decision on overturning a red card isn't up to him. FIFA has independent judicial bodies who make the final call.
READ MORE: The Balogun Red Card Saga Gets Even Wilder As Trump and FIFA President Weigh In
Fast-forward to the State Department event. After the media question was asked, the secretary appeared surprised: "You want to ask me about FIFA?" He then turned to his guest, the foreign minister, and seemed to ask him a question in Spanish. (You can't really hear what he's saying, but Foreign Minister Mackenna gestures as if to say, go ahead and answer, if you want to.)
🚨 WOW! Sec. of State Marco Rubio just MIC DROPPED Belgium and every leftist complaining that FIFA overturned the red card suspension for USA's Balogun
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) July 6, 2026
"If you're Belgium, WHY would you WANT to play a game and win a match, and then you win this match, and then everyone will… pic.twitter.com/1jSS0qhyzW
That's when Rubio proceeded to put on a masterclass for everyone, explaining why anyone on the Belgian side should want the red card scrapped for Balogun. First of all, he said:
It was a bad decision. They shouldn’t even be reviewing these things on slow motion. Right? They should review them live-action. I think it was the right decision to reverse it.
He said it would be a bad look for Belgium, otherwise:
And if you’re Belgium, why would you want to play a game and win a match, and then you win this match, and then everyone will argue you didn’t really win it because their best player, leading scorer was not on the pitch during that – during the match?
So it’s kind of unusual because, generally speaking, I mean, if you’re playing, you want to – you want the other side to be at its best so that your victory is not tainted in that way.
Belgium, as my colleague Nick Arama wrote earlier, tried to appeal FIFA's decision, but it wasn't accepted. Rubio half-jokingly said the U.S. might bring it up to NATO on Tuesday, but from what he had seen and been told, it did not look intentional:
So I think it was the right decision. Obviously, there’s a lot of drama around it and so forth. But I think it was the right decision to reverse it, because that decision initially – from everyone I’ve – I’m not an expert on – I don’t claim to be an expert on soccer, but from everyone I heard that knows about this, they all say that that – the guy’s head wasn’t even looking down. It wasn’t like he knew where he was stepping.
So look, maybe they’re trying to get an international incident. I don’t know; maybe we’ll bring it up at NATO tomorrow when we’re there with the Belgians and everybody else.
In the end, Sec. Rubio said, "I just hope the match will go on, everyone will be at full strength, and the winner will be the winner. If it’s Belgium – they have a very good team – they’ll move on and they can say they beat the U.S. at full strength at home."
That's how it should be. Your best against our best, and see who ends up in victory after 90 minutes.
At the time of this writing in Monday's contest (65:18) in Seattle, Belgium leads the U.S., 3-1. Go, U.S.A.!
You can watch the full event below: (The sound is a bit better in this clip, too.)
UPDATE: Since a reader mentioned how funny this meme of Rubio as a ref would be, I really must include it. Enjoy!
Ready and able pic.twitter.com/itOZ73lm4E
— Israel75 (@IFNY2775) July 6, 2026
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