The United States men’s national team had a big win Sunday without even kicking a ball. But Folarin Balogun‘s suspension reprieve, which allows him to play in Monday’s round-of-16 clash against Belgium, is bad for the World Cup and, in the end, might also be bad for Mauricio Pochettino’s team. Who wants to win if victory becomes tainted by murky interventions that take place without any explanation or transparency?
Four days ago, FIFA made it clear that there was no appeals process for Balogun and that he would serve a one-match suspension — case closed. The optics undermine the integrity of the competition: If you are a big player or play for a major nation — and as co-host, the U.S. is certainly the latter — the usual rules can be bent into whatever shape is required to achieve a desired outcome.
FIFA’s unexpected announcement Sunday, issued without fanfare on its official website and not posted on its X or Instagram accounts, said Balogun’s one-match ban for his red card in the round-of-32 win against Bosnia-Herzegovina would now be suspended for one year. In other words, Balogun, who leads the U.S. with three goals at the World Cup, is free to play in the team’s biggest game in a generation on Monday night in Seattle.
“By operation of Article 27 FDC (FIFA Disciplinary Code), the implementation of the automatic match suspension for USA player Folarin Balogun is suspended for a probationary period of one (1) year,” the statement read.
In one bland sentence, the USMNT and Balogun became the latest to benefit from FIFA’s unofficial Cristiano Ronaldo Rule. When the Portugal captain was sent off for hitting an opponent with an elbow in a World Cup qualifier against the Republic of Ireland last November, it was an offense that triggered an automatic three-match suspension.
But guess what? By citing Article 27, a catch-all clause that allows FIFA to “fully or partially suspend the implementation of a disciplinary measure,” FIFA reduced Ronaldo’s ban to one game — in a meaningless qualifier against Armenia — with the remaining two games suspended for 12 months. That enabled him to play at the start of the World Cup.
Balogun is tied with Ronaldo with three goals so far at this World Cup, but Balogun now also shares with the Al Nassr forward the less palatable distinction of avoiding a damaging suspension.
Belgium are justifiably indignant.
“The Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA) is astonished by FIFA’s decision to declare suspended United States player Folarin Balogun eligible to play in the USA-Belgium match,” it said in a statement. The RBFA hinted at legal recourse, adding that it is “investigating all potential options.”
The parallels with Ronaldo aren’t Balogun’s fault. The AS Monaco forward is almost an innocent bystander in what smacks of a decision based on somebody having friends in high places.
U.S. President Donald Trump reportedly called FIFA president Gianni Infantino on Wednesday and asked him to review the red card incident. Then, moments after FIFA announced Balogun’s reprieve, Trump posted on Truth Social: “Thank you to FIFA for doing what was right, and reversing a great injustice!” Infantino, we know well, has gone to great lengths to win Trump’s favor.
Many share Trump’s belief that Balogun didn’t deserve a red card after his challenge on Bosnia’s Tarik Muharemovic. Former Premier League referee Andy Davies told ESPN that, ultimately, the right outcome has been reached by Balogun’s reprieve.
“In my postmatch review, I spoke about not only the decision being incorrect, but the VAR process not aligning to protocol, as only slo-mo and still pictures were presented to the referee when asked to review the situation at the screen,” Davies said. “Real-time footage should have been considered by the referee, and this was not the case.
“In my opinion, FIFA has reviewed the incident internally and felt that either the judgment to send off Balogun was incorrect, or the correct process to do so via VAR was not followed. But either way, this outcome feels like a pivot from FIFA using a regulation to add credibility to their reasoning. The decision lacks transparency and a credible rationale as to why a red card has effectively been overturned.”
0 – Since the introduction of yellow and red cards at the 1970 edition, no player has ever received a red card and gone on to play in his team’s next match at the FIFA World Cup.
Unprecedented. pic.twitter.com/mqPXgUBju3
— OptaJohan (@OptaJohan) July 5, 2026
That is the key point, and one that hints at the U.S. benefiting from special privileges. There is a process that appears to have been thrown into the bin for an outcome that suits the co-host.
It has set a dangerous precedent. What happens if Lionel Messi or Kylian Mbappé receives a red card in the games to come? Will they also be given disciplinary immunity?
The answer should be an unequivocal “no,” but the Balogun decision has changed everything, and nobody wins — not even the USMNT.
