Belgium erupted in celebration early Tuesday morning after the national football team demolished the United States 4-1 in a World Cup match consumed by political overtones and inflammatory messaging tied to Donald Trump.
Tens of thousands of Belgian fans, draped in red, yellow and black, gathered across the country despite the 2am local kickoff to witness the commanding victory. In Kalmthout near the Dutch border, crowds booed images of American players and FIFA President Gianni Infantino, whose organization lifted a suspension on striker Falorin Balogun following Trump's public lobbying. Brussels spectators went further, setting fire to an American flag in the streets.
The match carried outsized symbolic weight for a fractious nation seeking rare moments of unified pride. Jens Boden, a 23-year-old supporter watching from Kalmthout, explained the turnout simply: "The Belgian national team is our national pride, so we have to support them, even at night."
Victory celebrations turned pointedly political. Belgium's social media post declaring "Overturn this" ricocheted across platforms, a direct jab at Trump's election rhetoric. When Romelu Lukaku scored the final goal, players choreographed their celebration by mimicking Trump's distinctive stiff-armed shuffle to YMCA, an act midfielder Axel Witsel confirmed was a coordinated team idea. Video clips of the mockery accumulated millions of views.
Belgian commentators seized on the result as retaliation for perceived interference. Retired defender Philippe Albert, who played for Newcastle in the 1990s, told Le Soir newspaper that the win constituted "a real slap in the face for Donald Trump and Gianni Infantino." He added: "They tried to destabilise a little country, but Belgium has shown that it has a big heart."
Meme generators flooded social media with increasingly pointed imagery. Fake pictures showed Trump's face painted in Belgian colours. Others depicted the Manneken Pis, Brussels' iconic statue of a urinating boy, positioned over a green-tinted Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool, a jab at the controversial renovation of the Washington monument completed under Trump's administration.
Prime Minister Bart De Wever offered no official statement, but his cat Maximus delivered a cryptic message. The feline's Instagram account, managed by the prime minister's team, posted a photo of Maximus clutching a soft toy fashioned as Trump, accompanied by the Dutch caption: "I slept really well last night. And you?"
The dust-up arrives at a delicate moment for Belgian leadership. De Wever and Trump are scheduled to attend a NATO summit in Ankara this week. Belgium's position remains awkward: the nation ranks among NATO's lowest defence spenders despite pledging to meet the alliance's 5% of GDP target. Current NATO figures show Belgium expected to hit the 2% spending benchmark in 2025, but the Belga news agency reported Monday that projections for 2029 peg spending at only 1.93%.
For Belgium, a fractured nation of 11.9 million people split across three official languages and six parliaments, football has long served as the singular unifying force. Two decades ago, a former Belgian prime minister famously described his country as "an accident of history" bound together only by "the king, the national football team, some beers." This week, that football team delivered the kind of cathartic release a divided nation desperately needed.
King Philippe plans to travel to Los Angeles to watch Belgium's quarter-final against Spain on Friday, the monarchy's social media account signalling support with a photo of the king speaking to coach Rudi Garcia and the message: "May fair-play and the best team prevail tonight: come on Belgium!"
Author James Rodriguez: "Belgium just handed Trump a public relations disaster wrapped in a four-goal victory, and the entire country couldn't be happier about it."
Comments