{"id":387371,"date":"2026-07-05T23:25:32","date_gmt":"2026-07-05T23:25:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/387371\/"},"modified":"2026-07-05T23:25:32","modified_gmt":"2026-07-05T23:25:32","slug":"folarin-balogun-eligible-for-world-cup-round-of-16-after-red-card-rescinded","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/387371\/","title":{"rendered":"Folarin Balogun eligible for World Cup round of 16 after red card rescinded"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

SEATTLE\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Chris Richards said he first heard teammate Folarin Balogun<\/a> had been cleared to play in Monday\u2019s World Cup<\/a> elimination game while on the team bus, heading to a morning training session at the University of Washington.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe found out through social media,\u201d Richards said Sunday. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of people posting a lot of stuff, so we weren\u2019t sure if it was true or not.\u201d<\/p>\n

In this case, it was. <\/p>\n

FIFA announced Sunday morning, about 30 hours before the U.S. was scheduled to play Belgium in a round of 16 game, that the one-game suspension Balogun received for a dangerous challenge in last week\u2019s win over Bosnia and Herzegovina<\/a> would be held in abeyance, making him eligible to play in what is arguably the team\u2019s most important game in at least a generation.<\/p>\n

It was the first time FIFA has rescinded a red-card suspension during a World Cup in 64 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cReally excited, obviously, for him to have this opportunity,\u201d Christian Pulisic<\/a> said. \u201cHe\u2019s our leading scorer in the tournament. He\u2019s a big part of this team. So of course you want a guy like that around.\u201d<\/p>\n

President Trump celebrated the reversal on his social media platform.<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you to FIFA for doing what was right, and reversing a great injustice!\u201d the president wrote.<\/p>\n

Multiple media outlets, citing unnamed people familiar with the conversation, reported that Trump spoke personally with FIFA President Gianni Infantino last week and asked him to rescind the red card. Balogun, born to Nigerian parents who live in England, is only eligible to play for the U.S. through birthright citizenship, a principle Trump unsuccessfully asked the Supreme Court to overturn last month.<\/p>\n

The Belgium team was not as happy, with the country\u2019s soccer federation saying it was \u201castonished\u201d by the ruling and \u201cinvestigating all potential options\u201d to block it and \u201csafeguard the legitimate rights of all participating teams and to protect the fundamental principles of fair play in our sport.\u201d <\/p>\n

It was unclear what those options might be.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t know the game was being played on April Fool\u2019s Day rather than July 6,\u201d Belgium coach Rudi Garcia said. \u201cWe\u2019re not defending the national team or federation. We are defending football.\u201d<\/p>\n

FIFA made a similar decision last fall after Portugal\u2019s Crisitiano Ronaldo was given a straight red card and a three-game international ban after swinging an elbow at Irish defender Dara O\u2019Shea during a World Cup qualifier. But Ronaldo, unlike Balogun, sat out a game, missing a qualifier with Armenia, before FIFA converted the rest of the penalty into a one-year probation, clearing the Portuguese captain to play in the World Cup.<\/p>\n

Sunday\u2019s decision marked the first time FIFA has lifted a suspension during the World Cup since 1962, when Brazilian attacker Garrincha was allowed to play in the final after high-level political figures \u2014 including Prime Minister Tancredo Neves \u2014 petitioned FIFA to overturn or drop the suspension. Garrincha, who tied for the scoring lead with four goals and was named the best player of that tournament, had been sent off in the semifinal after kicking Chile\u2019s Eladio Rojas.<\/p>\n

Brazil, with Garrincha, defeated Czechoslovakia 3-1 in the title game.<\/p>\n

Balogun and the U.S. team are on a record run.<\/p>\n

No American since 1930 scored three times in a World Cup before Balogun\u2019s first-half goal in a 2-0 over Bosnia in the round of 32. That was the team\u2019s first victory in a World Cup knockout game since 2002 and its third win overall in this tournament, the most-ever for the Americans in a single World Cup.<\/p>\n

Balogun has either scored or set up winning goals in all three victories.<\/p>\n

But early in the second half of the Bosnia game, he collided with Tarik Muharemovic and when the Bosnian defender planted his right leg below Balogun\u2019s right foot, the American inadvertently stomped on his right ankle, twisting it awkwardly.<\/p>\n

Both players went down, but Brazilian referee Raphael Claus did not initially penalize either. After the video assistant referee urged him to watch a replay, however, Claus walked away from the monitor and flashed the red card at Balogun, a judgment many immediately deemed overly harsh.<\/p>\n

U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino said the U.S. was penalized enough for Balogun\u2019s actions by having to play half an hour against Bosnia with just 10 men.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy reaction is like everyone that really loves that sport and trusts the ethic[s] and integrity. We celebrate that decision,\u201d he said. \u201cWe were punished enough against Bosnia and Herzegovina. 100% or maybe 99% agree there was an unfair red card.\u201d<\/p>\n

FIFA ultimately agreed, suspending the disqualification Sunday.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn line with article 27 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code, the implementation of the match suspension<\/a> is suspended for a probationary period of one year,\u201d it wrote in a statement. \u201cIf Folarin Balogun commits another infringement of a similar nature and gravity during the probationary period, the suspension shall be revoked and the sanction enforced without prejudice to any additional sanction imposed for the new infringement.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Pulisic, that was justice.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt just feels right,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you look at the foul, it\u2019s zero intent. There were much worse ones that went on this tournament.\u201d<\/p>\n

Balogun actions after the questionable foul also might have earned him leniency from FIFA. After the final whistle against Bosnia, he walked to the center of the field and shook hands with Claus, then politely took ownership of the incident in his first public remarks<\/a> two days later.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think a yellow card would have been fair,\u201d he said last Friday. \u201c[But] it\u2019s something that\u2019s happened, so we have to move forward, and I have to accept it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pulisic applauded his teammate\u2019s humility.<\/p>\n

\u201cBalo handled it so well, and I think the team handled it well,\u201d he said. \u201cWe weren\u2019t here to complain. You have to handle it in a good way, and you know good things happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

U.S. Soccer, which had remained engaged with FIFA since the suspension, issued its own statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe accept the decision of the Disciplinary Committee and are pleased that Folarin Balogun is eligible to compete tomorrow,\u201d it read in part. \u201dOur full attention is focused on the Round of 16 match against Belgium.\u201d<\/p>\n

The U.S. has beaten Belgium just once, in the 1930 World Cup. The last meeting between the two was a March friendly that Belgium won 5-2. And the last time they met in the World Cup, in the round of 16 in 2014, Belgium won in extra time despite American keeper Tim Howard making a tournament-record 16 saves.<\/p>\n

Kevin DeBruyne and Romelu Lukaku scored while Thibaut Courtois made nine saves in goal for Belgium that day. All three are still on the team and played in Belgium\u2019s round-of-32 win over Senegal. No one on the U.S. roster for that 2014 game has played internationally since 2023.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SEATTLE\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Chris Richards said he first heard teammate Folarin Balogun had been cleared to play in Monday\u2019s World Cup…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":385901,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[61169,151814,120165,7928,145222,156171,48,52,51,47,50,49,22169,108450,156170,96746,51459,777,3025,154818,154523],"class_list":["post-387371","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-belgium","tag-bosnia","tag-claus","tag-first-american","tag-folarin-balogun","tag-infringement","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-match","tag-one-game-suspension","tag-probationary-period","tag-red-card","tag-sanction","tag-second-half","tag-statement","tag-tarik-muharemovic","tag-world-cup-round"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387371","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=387371"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387371\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/385901"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=387371"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=387371"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=387371"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}