‘It just feels right.’ Folarin Balogun can play in World Cup round of 16 after red card suspended

SEATTLE — Chris Richards said he first heard teammate Folarin Balogun had been cleared to play in Monday’s World Cup elimination game while on the team bus, heading to a morning training session at the University of Washington.

“We found out through social media,” Richards said Sunday. “There’s a lot of people posting a lot of stuff, so we weren’t sure if it was true or not.”

In this case, it was. FIFA announced Sunday morning, about 30 hours before the U.S. was scheduled to play Belgium in the Round of 16 game, that the one-game suspension Balogun had received for a dangerous challenge in last week’s win over Bosnia and Herzegovina is being held in abeyance, making him eligible to play in what is arguably the team’s most important game in at least a generation.

“Really excited, obviously, for him to have this opportunity,” Christian Pulisic said. “He’s our leading scorer in the tournament. He’s a big part of this team. So of course you want a guy like that around.”

President Trump celebrated the reversal on his social media platform while the New York Times, citing three 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.

The Belgium team was not as happy with the country’s soccer federation saying it was “astonished” by the ruling and “investigating all potential options” to block it and “safeguard the legitimate rights of all participating teams and to protect the fundamental principles of fair in our sport.” It was unclear what those options might be.

“I didn’t know the game was being played on April Fool’s Day rather than July 6,” Belgian coach Rudi Garcia said. “We’re not defending the national team or federation. We are defending football.”

No American since 1930 had scored three times in a World Cup before Balogun’s first-half goal in a 2-0 over Bosnia in the round of 32. That was the team’s first victory in a World Cup knockout game since 2002 and in the three U.S. wins in this tournament, Balogun has either scored or set up the game-winning goal.

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’s right foot, the American inadvertently stomped on his right ankle, twisting it awkwardly.

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.

FIFA ultimately agreed, suspending the disqualification Sunday.

“In line with article 27 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code, the implementation of the match suspension is suspended for a probationary period of one year,” it wrote in a statement. “If 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.”

For Pulisic, that was justice.

“It just feels right,” he said.

“If you look at the foul, it’s zero intent. There were much worse ones that went on this tournament.”

Balogun action’s after the questionable foul may also have inspired FIFA’s leniency. After the final whistle of the Bosnia game, 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 two days later.

“I think a yellow card would have been fair,” he said last Friday. “[But] it’s something that’s happened, so we have to move forward, and I have to accept it.”

Pulisic applauded his teammate’s humility.

“Balo handled it so well, and I think the team handled it well,” he said. “We weren’t here to complain. You have to handle it in a good way, and you know good things happen.”

U.S. Soccer, which had remained engaged with FIFA since the was suspension, issued its own statement.

“We accept the decision of the Disciplinary Committee and are pleased that Folarin Balogun is eligible to compete tomorrow,” it read in part. ”Our full attention is focused on the Round of 16 match against Belgium.”

Balogun is not the first person to have a penalty rescinded by FIFA. Portugal’s Crisitiano Ronaldo was given a straight red card and a three-game international ban after swinging an elbow at Irish defender Dara O’Shea during a World Cup qualifier last fall. But after Ronaldo sat out a qualifier with Armenia, FIFA converted the rest of the penalty into a one-year probation, clearing the Portuguese captain to play in the World Cup.

But it’s 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 his nation’s government intervened. 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’s Eladio Rojas.

Brazil, with Garrincha, defeated Czechoslovakia 3-1 in the title game.

If Balogun had missed Monday’s game, the U.S. would likely have replaced him with Ricardo Pepi or Haji Wright, but the dropoff would have been significant. Balogun not only tops the U.S. in goals but he has has a team-leading 11 shots and four shots on target in 223 minutes. Pepi and Wright, who have combined for 186 minutes, do not have a goal or shot in the tournament.

Balogun is also good at holding up the ball, buying time to let his teammates join the attack. That’s a skill the U.S. will need against a smart, veteran Belgium team that has warmed into the World Cup, scoring eight times in its last two games.

The U.S. has beaten Belgium just once, in the 1930 World Cup. The last meeting was a March friendly that Belgium won 5-2 and the last time they faced off in the World Cup, in the round of 16 in 2014, Belgium won in extra time in a game in which American keeper Tim Howard made a tournament-record 16 saves.

Kevin DeBruyne and Romelu Lukaku scored while Thibaut Courtois nine saves in goal for Belgium that day. All three are still on the team and played in Belgium’s Round-of-32 win over Senegal in this World Cup last week. No one on the U.S. roster for that 2014 game has played internationally since 2023.