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SEATTLE — Rudi Garcia thought it was an April Fool’s joke. Belgium’s manager was floored when he first heard that U.S. men’s national team striker Folarin Balogun’s suspension had been rescinded and that he would be available to play in what’s now becoming an even more dramatic round of 16 clash here on Monday. “I didn’t know that at FIFA’s headquarters, July 5 is the same thing as April 1,” Garcia said at a press conference on Sunday afternoon. “It’s a discovery for me.” The biggest story at the World Cup right now is FIFA’s stunning reversal of Balogun’s already controversial red card from the USA’s round of 32 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina last week. Balogun was sent off in the 64th minute after a lengthy VAR review overturned the original no-call, forcing the Americans to play the rest of the match with 10 men. A red card typically carries an automatic ejection and at least a one-match suspension. The Belgian federation released a statement saying it was “astonished” and is “investigating all potential options” regarding FIFA’s decision. Meanwhile, the emotions couldn’t have been more different on the U.S. side of things. Players were buzzing at training on Sunday morning, and manager Mauricio Pochettino – speaking after Garcia – was smiling and appeared light at his press conference. “I think we celebrate that decision,” Pochettino said in front of a packed room of reporters. “We were punished enough against Bosnia and Herzegovina to play with 10 men for 30 minutes in a decision that was completely unfair. “But it’s not only because I am the head coach of the U.S. men’s national team, I need to defend my side. I think 99.9% [of people] agree that was an unfair red card.” Pochettino called Garcia a “great coach” and a “great person” and understands his frustration. But added, “everyone that really loves the sport and trusts its ethical integrity, we all celebrate that decision.” Plus, as Pochettino pointed out, there’s a recent precedent. FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee made a similar decision that allowed superstar Cristiano Ronaldo to play in Portugal’s first two games after he received a red card during his squad’s final World Cup qualifier. Under FIFA rules, he was supposed to have been banned for three games, but instead only missed one pre-tournament friendly. Pochettino said he didn’t learn Balogun would be available until Sunday morning, ahead of the team’s training session. He was asked, but didn’t really comment, on any posts or the reported involvement of President Donald Trump. “I was training, then climbing into the shower, eating so quick, and was taking the coffee into the car,” Pochettino joked. “I didn’t have time to see social media.” A U.S. Soccer spokesman told reporters Sunday that “we were engaged in the process with the disciplinary committee.” Pochettino said he was not involved. “I was focusing and trying to prepare the team to face Belgium,” Pochettino said. Pochettino was asked, though, if he was surprised that this has become such a massive story. “That is the power of this sport,” Pochettino said frankly. “That is amazing. It doesn’t surprise me. I came from a culture in Argentina and Europe that football – soccer – is more than a religion. It doesn’t surprise me that in this country, the feeling is starting to grow so quick. “And yes, for sure, if we keep going – pushing maybe one more step tomorrow – you will see that the sport is magic, that the sport is amazing, is so powerful. It can unite people, unite a country like us.”​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports

Surprised? Then you haven’t been paying attention. Norway just beat Brazil, 2-1, to reach its first-ever quarterfinal, and the wildest part is that it wasn’t even a smash-and-grab. Norway had nearly 70% possession. Norway controlled the tempo. Norway had Erling Haaland, the only superstar who showed up today. Brazil had 34% possession, a missed penalty, a missed sitter, and now a very long flight home. The five-time champions are out in the round of 16. Sit with that. Then remember Norway has never — not once, not ever — lost to Brazil. Four games before tonight, zero defeats. Make it five. Here are my four takeaways from a night Norwegian football will never forget: 1. Brazil Crash Out. And Honestly? It Earned It. Let’s cut to the chase and say the truth. Carlo Ancelotti’s team simply wasn’t good enough. It lost its aura. The “jogo bonito” is long gone. Brazil set up like a provincial — read that again, Brazil, at a World Cup, barely touching the ball — and there was zero swagger in its play, zero Brazilian identity, zero of anything that makes that legendary yellow shirt mean something. Just a gray, joyless side waiting to counter. And when the moments came, the finishing was criminal. Ørjan Nyland saved Bruno Guimarães’s first-half penalty. Then Endrick, played clean through by Vinícius Júnior, produced a first touch so heavy it needed its own boarding pass and poked the sitter wide. Endrick perhaps showed why Ancelotti was so reluctant to use him in this tournament. That’s the game, right there. Neymar’s stoppage-time penalty was useless, and the trash-talking between him and Nyland before and after the penalty was quite frankly an embarrassment for the former superstar now in the twilight of his career. Brazil will miss the World Cup quarterfinals for the first time in 36 years. On this evidence, nobody should be shocked. 2. My Dark Horse Delivered. You Were Warned. I called Norway my favorite dark horse before this tournament, and nights like this are exactly why. This wasn’t luck. Norway stepped onto the field with the clear intention of dominating from the opening whistle. They pressed them ferociously, and dictated the tempo like a giant of the game. Martin Ødegaard ran the game. Patrick Berg even had a curler chalked off for offside. Brazil chased shadows in their own round of 16. If you watched qualifying, none of this is new. Norway went a perfect eight-for-eight, scored 37, conceded five, and beat Italy twice — including 4-1 at the San Siro. Haaland scored 16 times in eight qualifiers. Brazil? The worst qualifying campaign in their history. Fifth place, six defeats, humiliated 4-1 in Buenos Aires, three managers deep before Ancelotti. One team arrived in form. It just wasn’t the one in yellow. 3. The Ramifications For Brazil Are Seismic. The historic weight of this result is hard to overstate. Brazil, out before the quarterfinals for the first time since 1990. The wait for a sixth star now stretches beyond 2002 into a sixth straight World Cup — territory this nation has never known. Tactically, Ancelotti got it wrong. He surrendered midfield to Ødegaard and company, turned Brazil into a Catenaccio (tactically defensive door-bolt) side, and asked an aging spine — Casemiro, Danilo, Marquinhos, all thirtysomethings — to survive Norway’s press. Japan exposed those legs a week ago. Norway buried them. But let’s be honest: This was bigger than one game plan. This Brazilian team is flawed at its core — old in the wrong places, timid in possession and toothless in the box. The flaws that flickered in qualifying and against Japan showed up at the worst possible moment, in the biggest game. Flawed teams don’t survive knockout football. Brazil didn’t either. 4. One Superstar Showed Up. His Name Is Erling Haaland. Vinícius Júnior versus Erling Haaland was the billing. Only one of them answered. As Zlatan Ibrahimović said on air: Haaland needs one touch to score one goal. He got two, he scored two. A towering header in the 79th minute to break Brazil, then a thunderbolt from the top of the box in the 90th that Alisson Becker could only wave at. A brace, seven goals in the tournament, level with Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé in the Golden Boot race, and the single greatest result in the history of Norwegian football delivered on his back. And spare a roar for Ørjan Nyland, who was magnificent again — the penalty save from Guimarães, a string of stops on Rayan and Bruno Guimarães, and one absurd backwards fingertip claw off his own post. Norway is in the quarterfinals for the first time ever. England or Mexico await in Miami. Believe it now?​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports