Money can't solve everything: US soccer loses to Belgium despite FIFA intervention

Money can't solve everything

This meme uses a scene from the 2003 live-action The Cat in the Hat film to make a sarcastic joke. In the foreground, a smiling, triumphant young boy clenches his fists in celebration, labeled with the text "Trump convincing Fifa to suspend Balogun’s ban". Behind him, the Cat in the Hat character sneaks up holding a baseball bat, preparing to hit the unsuspecting boy, labeled with the text "The US Team still losing to Belgium 1-4". The core joke aligns with the original title "Money can’t solve everything": even after former US president Donald Trump successfully lobbied FIFA to lift the suspension of US men's soccer player Folarin Balogun ahead of an international match, the US team still lost to Belgium by a score of 1 to 4, meaning the successful lobbying effort did not deliver the expected positive result.

This meme was sourced from the Reddit r/Meme subreddit via RSS feed. It repurposes a widely used Cat in the Hat reaction template, where a character celebrates a win just before being hit by an unforeseen negative event, to mock the outcome of the 2025 US vs Belgium men's soccer match. The template has been used for many similar jokes referencing unexpected negative outcomes after a short-term win.