• Red Devils beat USA to advance to World Cup last-eight

• Team had been angered by suspension of red card

For Belgium, Monday’s 4-1 victory over the United States was doubly sweet. They advanced to the World Cup quarter-finals, as well as overcoming what they saw as injustice off the field.

The buildup to the match had been tinged with controversy after Fifa had suspended the red card US striker Folarin Balogun was given in the last 32 against Bosnia and Herzegovina. That meant Balogun was free to play against Belgium instead of serving a one-match ban. When it emerged that Donald Trump had lobbied for Balogun’s red card to be overturned, Belgium – and other nations – were outraged: Uefa called the decision “incomprehensible and unjustifiable”.

The United States’ quest to get Folarin Balogun’s red card overturned may have opened a Pandora’s box – one specifically designed to contain the national team’s worst nightmares.

With a country on the verge of falling in love with this team, and tens of millions eager for a reason to embrace the glory and pride this sport can provide, there were instead questions of fairness and propriety. A star striker, who made an honest, unintentional mistake – and said and did all the right things – became a talking point. And a day later, on an otherwise beautiful Monday evening in the Pacific north-west, the United States’ World Cup dream ended with a thud.

The tournament co-hosts wilted against Belgium for a 4-1 defeat, costing them a quarter-final spot. We look at the best images from the showdown in Seattle

The tournament co-hosts crashed out with a disappointing display as Belgium proved too strong an opponent

Through four games, Belgium have retained 57% of possession with a 65% field tilt – a possession metric weighing only final-third touches – but haven’t found a way to maximize that advantage.

While possession can be a noisy statistic, viewing it in stylistic terms can be informative. So far at this World Cup, Belgium have won the possession battle in all four of their games, with Senegal playing them closest in a 52-48 split. The United States have maintained a 58% share of the ball in their four games, neck-and-neck with Garcia’s Belgium. If Mauricio Pochettino’s side can keep the ball off Belgian feet more often than not, it could unsettle the Red Devils.

We try to teach our children to follow the rules. Now an American president has chosen the opposite tack

I’m rooting for the US as we take on Belgium today in Seattle for a place in the World Cup quarterfinals.

But the game isn’t what it was – before Trump asked the Fifa president, Gianni Infantino, to review the suspension of the US’s top scorer, striker Folarin Balogun, who got a red card in a match against Bosnia and Herzegovina and would otherwise have been suspended from Monday’s match.

European governing body’s dramatic move could have major implications for the future of the sport

Perhaps the only globally renowned figure who has been more conspicuous by his absence at this World Cup tournament than Donald Trump is the Uefa president, Aleksander Ceferin, although both men have more than made up for their silence over the past 24 hours.

By endorsing a statement in which Uefa accused Fifa of crossing “a red line” in making the “incomprehensible and unjustifiable” decision to lift the USA striker Folarin Balogun’s suspension for the last-16 tie with Belgium on Monday, Ceferin has effectively put European football on a war footing with the world governing body, a dramatic move that could have major implications for the future of the sport.

Years of unremitting disasters have convinced me not to go to sleep with hope in your heart. But that footballing victory took me back to more innocent times

When I went to bed on Sunday, football commentators were killing time waiting for the England match by talking about Donald Trump, Fifa president Gianni Infantino and Folarin Balogun’s red card, waived for the US because of reasons. None of the available words – “unacceptable”, “cheaty”, “absolutely stinks” – covered it. There’s no chance of Trump’s US playing nicely in an international tournament, especially when it’s hosting most of it. Does the US just get the trophy, whatever happens? Do they fashion two trophies, one for the winner and one for most winning host?

It was all a big deal for geopolitics, but for the more immediate matter of how to take seriously a competition in which there were no longer rules, it wasn’t the end of the world. Whatever happened, it definitely wouldn’t end in a showdown between the US and the UK, fixed in advance by a president determined to celebrate 250 years in style. Because, by tomorrow, I thought, England would be out. If we’ve learned anything from the past decade, it’s not to go to sleep waiting for news. Whatever the dawn breaks over will be bad.

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

Parts of 2018’s Golden Generation still remain, but there are more than enough good players in this Belgian side to give the US headaches

• Predict the winner | Daily podcast | Download our app

The whiff of unfulfilment lingers around Belgium. The Golden Generation – and the fact it never quite achieved what it might have done – has dominated coverage of their last three tournaments. This perhaps isn’t quite fair – either on those who were part of that group or those who have followed.

Beating Brazil in the quarter-final to reach the semi-final in Russia 2018 was a fine achievement, but that side featuring Vincent Kompany, Eden Hazard, Thibaut Courtois, Romelu Lukaku and Kevin De Bruyne then lost 1-0 to France in the semi. The squad was good enough to win a tournament, but that was as close as they came. Courtois, Lukaku, De Bruyne, Axel Witsel and the right-back Thomas Meunier have all endured since 2018. The 2026 Belgium squad is not, as 2022 felt, the Golden Generation redux, just a little bit older and a little bit more tired. A new wave is emerging and, while the likes of Leandro Trossard, Youri Tielemans, Jérémy Doku and Charles De Ketelaere may not have quite the star quality of the previous generation, they’re still decent players – perhaps not World Cup winners, but certainly not to be dismissed. And remember, this is Belgium, a country of just under 12 million; it’s not realistic to think it can consistently produce potential world champions.

This is an extract from Soccer Desk: World Cup edition, a newsletter from the Guardian US that will run regularly during the tournament. Subscribe for free here.

• Trump says he asked Fifa to review red card

• Infantino confirms Trump called over Balogun

• US president insists he did not pressure Fifa

Donald Trump said on Monday that he personally asked Fifa president Gianni Infantino to review the red card shown to USA striker Folarin Balogun, saying he believed the dismissal was unfair but insisting he did not pressure football’s governing body to overturn the suspension.

The intervention by the president of a World Cup host nation has thrust Fifa’s disciplinary process into the spotlight and prompted an angry response from Belgium, who face the USA on Monday night for a place in the quarter-finals.

• Decision is ‘incomprehensible and unjustifiable’

• Football associations and politicians also speak out

• Trump confirms that he asked Fifa for a review

Fifa’s willingness to bow to the wishes of Donald Trump by lifting the suspension of USA striker Folarin Balogun from the host’s last-16 World Cup tie against Belgium was strongly criticised on Monday, with European politicians, football associations and governing body Uefa condemning the decision.

In an unprecedented intervention in the middle of a tournament, Uefa accused Fifa of crossing “a red line” by making an “incomprehensible and unjustifiable” decision to rescind Balogun’s automatic one-match ban, which it claimed undermined “the integrity of the game and the credibility of the competition.”

In pushing Fifa to reverse Folarin Balogun’s suspension, the president did the most American thing possible: assert unasked-for power to get his way

The story of Garrincha’s red card in the 1962 World Cup is the stuff of legend. The Brazilian great was sent off in the semi-final for lashing out at an opponent, but back then Fifa had no automatic one-match suspension in place. So a disciplinary committee convened the next day to decide his fate for the final.

As the story goes, the assistant referee who had the best view of the offense was paid off and disappeared, and the president of Chile, the tournament’s host, put in a call to Fifa, urging them to decide against any additional suspension. He did so for the sake of keeping one of the tournament’s most entertaining players on the field. Garrincha emerged scot-free and Brazil won their second World Cup.

A decidedly unremarkable Brazilian team had looked tentative at this tournament. A sixth World Cup title looks a long way off

Brazil were 1-0 down. At first, a few yellow jerseys wandered up the aisles and out to the concourse, writing off the small fortunes they had invested in being here, never mind the chances of their nation lifting a sixth World Cup. Then it was a steady stream of Brazil fans heading to the exits.

They knew how this was going to end. That Brazil would be eliminated here in the last 16, knocked out at the earliest stage since 1990. That they would have gone six World Cups without lifting the trophy, their longest title drought.