SEATTLE – The United States men’s national team will have its leading goal scorer on the pitch, as the USMNT looks to continue its historic World Cup run.
Folarin Balogun will be available for the Round of 16 against Belgium on Monday at Lumen Field, after FIFA announced a suspension of his one-game red card ban on Sunday.
Balogun scored his team-high third goal of the World Cup on Wednesday's 2-0 win against Bosnia and Herzegovina, and he received a straight red card on video review of a foul in the second half of the Round of 32 match.
Balogun was the first player to score a goal and receive a red card in a World Cup knockout game since Frenchman Zinedine Zidane’s infamous headbutt in the 2006 Final against Italy.
Balogun’s one-match suspension will be held off for a probationary one-year period. In a statement, FIFA noted that if “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.”
There was no formal appeal by U.S. Soccer to attempt to overturn the ban, as there is no process to do so under FIFA rules.
“We accept the decision of the Disciplinary Committee and are pleased that Folarin Balogun is eligible to compete tomorrow,” U.S. Soccer said in a statement. “Our full attention is focused on the Round of 16 match against Belgium in Seattle, and we look forward to the continued support of our amazing fans.”
FIFA had issued a similar ruling for Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo ahead of the World Cup, which suspended the last two games of a three-game suspension for the same one-year probationary period.
Balogun did not receive any immediate on-field discipline other than a common foul for his challenge against Bosnia defender Tarik Muharemovic in the second half Wednesday’s Round of 32 match in Santa Clara.
However, the video assistant referee called down to on-field Brazilian referee Raphael Claus to take a further look at the play. At the pitchside monitor, Claus viewed a slow-motion replay of Balogun reaching out with his right leg while coming together with Muharemovic and saw his cleats rake down the Bosnian defender’s leg and come down on his ankle.
Claus determined Balogun had committed “a serious foul” and sent off the American scorer with a straight red card.
“For me? Never a red card,” USMNT coach Mauricio Pochettino said after the match. “Never an intention to step on the player. It was a normal action in football that happened by accident.”
Balogun was not issued a warning of any sort prior to the foul, which led many to believe it was a harsh decision to implement the red card straight away.
“It’s important for me to say, first and foremost, it was totally unintentional.” Balogun told reporters on Friday, “which I’m sure a lot of people know. I think the choice of the referee was of course his choice, but I don’t think it was the correct call. I think a yellow card would have been fair, just due to it not being intentional. There’s also not many places I can place my foot in such a scenario.”
It’s now all behind Balogun and the USMNT now, as they set their sights on Belgium in Seattle tomorrow and a quarterfinal date back in Los Angeles.
Wednesday’s Round of 32 win over Bosnia was just the second World Cup knockout round win in United States men’s history and the first win over European competition since 2021–a 12-match span. The win over Bosnia was the States’ third win of this tournament, the most in a single World Cup in men’s program history.
The U.S. has World Cup knockout history with Belgium, as the Red Devils were the opponent for Tim Howard’s World Cup-record 16-save performance in 2014 in Brazil. That match was also a Round of 16 clash with Belgium pulling out the extra-time victory, 2-1.
The United States-Belgium winner will play the winner of Spain-Portugal in the quarterfinals in Los Angeles on Friday.