US President Donald Trump on Friday (local time) praised Argentina captain Lionel Messi's performance against England in the second semifinal of the ongoing FIFA World Cup 2026, and also hailed his relationships with other stars of the game like Cristiano Ronaldo and Harry Kane with FIFA president Gianni Infantino standing next to him during the FIFA reception at the Trump Tower in New York.
Regarding the sensational cross Messi served on a plate for Lautaro Martinez to score the winning goal that took Argentina to the semifinal, the US President said, "I watched that pass that Messi made...He was well guarded by a great player and then he moved to the right, and the other player was just standing there...He kicked it. It was within, I would say, a quarter of an inch of being perfect. And that was the end of the game. It was brilliant. These great players, they seem to do that over and over again. They're just born with something extra."
He went on about his meeting with Cristiano Ronaldo and also spoke about him having played golf with England captain Harry Kane.
Trump said, "Ronaldo is one of them (born with something extra). I got to know him over the years and he's a great guy. You have a great player in England who I played golf with, you know that, right? Harry Kane who's been fantastic. They perhaps made a mistake when they made him a defensive player...They took the lead and they took their best player and then put him on defense..."
Trump praises Infantino for Balogun's red card reversal
Trump also praised Infantino for the reversal of the red card issued against Florian Balogun, which has caused much outrage over the footballing world, with claims of political interference in sporting decisions.
“Gianni made yet another of his many good decisions,” Trump said, adding, “It’s so much better the way it worked out, because there’s no controversy. They won the game, and our team had all of its players.”
“You made another great decision. If you think about, I know you’ll never get credit,” he continued. “Think of it. If he didn’t allow him, and they lost, they’d say we would have won the game if we had our best player.”
Balogan received the red card during the USA vs Bosnia and Herzegovina match, and should ideally have been suspended for USMNT's next fixture against Belgium. However, the US president reached out to the FIFA president asking for the decision to be reviewed.
Trump wants US alone as WC hosts again
The US President also hailed the tournament, which the country co-hosted with its neighbours in the north, Canada, and those to the south, Mexico, even as his government has often clashed with these countries over immigration and trade policy.
Trump took a jab at Canada and Mexico on Friday, and asked FIFA to make the US the sole host the next time the World Cup lands on the western shores of the Atlantic.
“You should choose the United States of America again. This time we’ll leave Mexico and Canada out,” he said.
“I was very nice to get them in. What we do is you leave, you choose us, but you pick somebody else for the next one, and that will take some of the anger, hatred, and steam out of everyone,” he added.
