Belgian football fans burned an American flag in Brussels as they celebrated the national team's 4-1 victory over the USA in the round of 16 of the World Cup. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing The Guardian.
The match was overshadowed by controversy over Donald Trump's lobbying to overturn the suspension of striker Falorin Balogun. Belgium's prime minister, Bart De Wever, has yet to comment, but the Instagram account of his cat Maximus showed a sardonic sign of satisfaction: a photo of Maximus lying on a rug holding a soft toy of Trump, with the caption "I slept really well last night. And you?" in Dutch.
Fans across Belgium gathered in large crowds to watch the game despite the 2am local kick-off time. In Kalmthout, 23-year-old Jens Boden told De Standaard: "The Belgian national team is our national pride, so we have to support them, even at night." Crowds booed images of Americans and FIFA president Gianni Infantino. In Brussels, supporters set fire to an American flag.
Former Belgium defender Philippe Albert described the victory as "a real slap in the face for Donald Trump and Gianni Infantino." "They tried to destabilise a little country, but Belgium has shown that it has a big heart," he told Le Soir.
After the win, the national team's social media post saying "Overturn this" went viral. After Romelu Lukaku scored the fourth goal, the team celebrated by imitating Trump's stiff arm-shuffling moves to YMCA. Midfielder Axel Witsel said it was a group idea.
Belgium's triumph came on the eve of the NATO summit in Ankara, which De Wever and Trump are due to attend. Belgium is expected to meet NATO's 2% GDP defence spending target in 2025, but according to Belga, Belgium will spend only 1.93% on defence in 2029.
Football has long been a unifying force in Belgium. Twenty years ago, a former prime minister said Belgium was "an accident of history" sharing only "the king, the national football team, some beers." King Philippe will travel to Los Angeles to watch the quarter-final against Spain on Friday.