Rangers ace sparks World Cup thumping to down ex-Ibrox teammate amid pre-match controversy

Ahead of the game, the headlines were dominated by FIFA’s eyebrow-raising decision to allow United States forward Folarin Balogun to play in the game despite his straight red card in their win against Bosnia and Herzegovina in the previous round.

Sent off for awkwardly stepping on the ankle of Bosnian defender Tarik Muharemovic in the last-32, Balogun was due to serve a standard, non-appealable automatic one-game suspension, but was able to start vs Belgium after football’s governing body opted to invoke Article 27 of their disciplinary code.

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The code, which allows the committee authority to ‘suspend’ the decision, came following direct political intervention from US President Donald Trump and was widely condemned by the Belgian FA, who lodged an appeal against the decision, stating: “We are not defending the national team or the federation, we're defending football... and the fundamental principles of ethics and fair competition.”

The match went ahead as planned despite the pre-game public dispute, with Balogun named in the United States’ starting XI and Celtic’s Auston Trusty amongst the substitutes, but it was Belgium who took control early on when some excellent close control from Raskin in the box allowed him to cross for Charles De Ketelaere, who tapped home the opener after just nine minutes.

However, the tournament co-hosts found themselves level after half an hour through Malik Tillman, who spent a year on loan at Rangers in the 2022/23 season, whose deflected free-kick wrong-footed goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and sailed into the net to bring USA back in the game.

Belgium quickly restored their lead through De Ketelaere, though, with the Atalanta frontman connecting to Leandro Trossard’s delightful cross to power home on 33 minutes. The Red Devils would go further in front on 57 minutes when US goalkeeper Matt Freese lost control of the ball just outside of his box under pressure from De Ketelaere, and allowed Hans Vanaken to place the ball into an empty net.

The visitors then sealed the win in stoppage time through veteran striker Romelu Lukaku, who capitalised on more slack defending to fire home a fourth goal at Lumen Field.

Following the game, Raskin told reporters “there was always a justice somewhere in life” following FIFA’s pre-game decision to waive Balogun’s suspension, while his manager Rudi Garcia added: “Balogun came to talk to me. I really liked that. It's not his fault, he's not the one to blame, I told him that. The players were outstanding and followed the game plan perfectly. We were in control throughout the match. Once again, it was a real team effort.”

The win means Belgium progress to the quarter-finals of the World Cup, and will now face a clash with European champions, Spain, following their dramatic last minute 1-0 win against rivals Portugal earlier in the day. The game is scheduled to played on Friday, July 10, in Inglewood, Los Angeles. Kick-off is scheduled for 8pm UK time.