FIFA changes its mind on Folarin Balogun suspension

On Jul 5, 2026

The United States Men’s National Team was expected to be without its leading goal scorer during Monday’s Round of 16 showdown with Belgium in the 2026 FIFA World Cup after he was shown a red card during the Round of 32 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina. However, it does not seem like that’s the case after all.

On Sunday afternoon, FIFA announced that Balogun will be available to play for the USMNT on Monday after its disciplinary committee suspended the red card he was issued during last week’s match.

Balogun Shown Red Card

Early in the second half of Wednesday night’s match, Balogun was issued a red card after a VAR review for dragging his cleats down the back of Bosnia defender Tarik Muharemovic’s leg and onto his foot.

While Balogun was not even issued a yellow card in real time, the VAR review deemed that the foul was worthy of a red card. As a result, Balogun was sent off, and the United States was forced to play the remaining 30 minutes of the match with just 10 men. More than that, the red card also carried an automatic one-match suspension, which would mean that Balogun would be suspended for Monday’s match against Belgium, too.

Given that there was no clear mechanism to appeal, it seemed like the United States would be forced to play without him on Monday. Balogun had even accepted the penalty, even if he didn’t agree with it.

“I’ve been sad, I’ve been happy, it’s been surreal to be honest. It’s important for me to say, obviously, first and foremost, it was totally unintentional, which I’m sure a lot of people know. I don’t think it was the correct call. I think a yellow card would have been fair,” Balogun said this week.

Balogun Eligible to Play

In a stunning turn of events on Sunday, FIFA announced that it had suspended Balogun’s red card suspension, making him eligible to play against Belgium on Monday.

“The FIFA disciplinary committee has imposed the following sanction on United States national-team player Folarin Balogun, who was sent off as a result of a direct red card during the FIFA World Cup 2026 match between the United States and Bosnia and Herzegovina played on 1 July 2026 at San Francisco Bay Area Stadium: One-match suspension for breaches of articles 14 and 66 of the FIFA disciplinary code (FDC),” FIFA wrote in a statement via The Athletic.

“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. 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.”

This follows a similar decision FIFA made regarding Portugal star Cristiano Ronaldo. FIFA handed the Portugal captain a three-match ban, but the final two matches of that ban were suspended for a similar “one-year probation period.”

According to prominent soccer reporter Ben Jacobs, the United States was repeatedly told that teams are not able to appeal red card suspensions, so the team did not pursue an appeal. The decision to allow Balogun to play came from FIFA.

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