Folarin Balogun World Cup Status Clarified by FIFA After Controversial Red Card in USMNT Win

Folarin Balogun will be back for the quarterfinals of the 2026 FIFA World Cup if Team USA advances past Belgium.

FIFA clarified on Friday that Balogun’s suspension for receiving a red card in the Round of 32 against Bosnia and Herzegovina will only be one game.

Balogun was issued a controversial red card in the 64th minute of Wednesday’s win after a VAR review of his challenge on Tarik Muharemovic.

The determination from VAR was that Balogun’s contact with Muharemovic’s ankle rose to the level of being a dangerous play and recommended the referee review the monitor for a possible red card.

U.S. head coach Mauricio Pochettino’s perspective was the contact was incidental and didn’t warrant such a harsh level of discipline.

“For me? Never a red card,” Pochettino said. “Never an intention to step on the player. It was a normal action in football that happened by accident.”

In addition to being ruled out for the remainder of Wednesday’s match, FIFA rules stipulate a red card trigger an automatic suspension for the club’s next match.

Per ESPN’s Mark Ogden, FIFA’s disciplinary panel was going to review the play to determine if the incident would warrant any further discipline.

With the ruling on Friday that Balogun will only miss one game, the U.S. will now focus on trying to get past Belgium without its leading scorer in the tournament.

Balogun has scored three goals through Team USA’s first three matches. No other player on the team has more than goal in the World Cup at this point.

One encouraging sign looking ahead is Christian Pulisic played 87 minutes in Wednesday’s victory, his most in the tournament while dealing with a calf injury.

USA and Belgium will play on Monday in Seattle at 8 p.m. ET. A win will send the United States into the World Cup quarterfinals for the first time since 2002.