Folarin Balogun: Red Card Controversy Distracted USMNT Before World Cup Exit
Newsweek · C · trust 52/100
0 Share Newsweek is a Trust Project member See more of our trusted coverage when you search. Prefer Newsweek on Google to see more of our trusted coverage when you search. The United States men's national team ( USMNT ) emanated all-time vibes throughout the group stage of the 2026 FIFA men's World Cup .
All indications were that this team would finally break the Round-of-16 ceiling that had cursed the USMNT for 24 years.
Then, in the Round of 32, breakout star striker Folarin Balogun went for the ball. His spikes made contact the back of Bosnia-Herzegovina defender Tarik Muharemovic's calf, and Balogun was shown a controversial red card after VAR review.
The red card triggered an automatic one-match suspension. Balogun was set to miss the USMNT's Round-of-16 matchup with Belgium — until FIFA decided to suspend Balogun's red card and allow him to play against Belgium. It was an unprecedented decision and, due to U.S. President Donald Trump's involvement , stirred up even more intense controversy.
The USMNT looked utterly lifeless against Belgium and lost 4-1. The U.S. men have not beaten Belgium since 1930, so the most obvious explanation for another Round-of-16 flameout was that Belgium — and the world-football giants of the world — is still better than the USMNT. But Balogun disclosed that the team was affected by the FIFA firestorm.
"My initial reaction was [that] I was happy to be back in the team, but when I started to reflect I knew it was gonna cause a lot of controversy," Balogun told Gayle King on CBS Mornings. "I could almost see within my teammates a bit of nerves because it was something that's so unique. But the closer we got to the game, I tried to just focus as best as I could, but it was difficult. A lot of outside noise, and that's hard to avoid."
The Belgian Red Devils made a point to celebrate their victory over the U.S. with a post captioned , "Overturn this."
Balogun finished his debut World Cup as the USMNT's leading goal scorer with three goals. After the USMNT's World Cup exit, Balogun took to Instagram to apologize to U.S. soccer fans.
"My debut World Cup… it hurts to wait 4 years to compete at the highest level our sport has to offer," Balogun captioned this photo showing him doing LeBron James' "Silencer" celebration after his goal against Bosnia-Herzegovina. "I want to say sorry to our fans it was not good enough when it mattered most and we let you down."
Balogun has reportedly signed with LeBron James' Klutch Sports agency, per ESPN , just in time for a rumored club move. Last week, The Athletic's David Ornstein reported that Balogun is "expected to leave Monaco" this summer, with interest from the English Premier League and "elsewhere in Europe, including Italy."
Watch Balogun's full CBS Mornings segment below.
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