{"id":26498,"date":"2026-07-06T00:29:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-06T00:29:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/26498\/"},"modified":"2026-07-06T00:29:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T00:29:14","slug":"belgium-astonished-at-fifas-u-turn-on-balogun-red-card-for-usa-match-world-cup-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/26498\/","title":{"rendered":"Belgium \u2018astonished\u2019 at FIFA\u2019s U-turn on Balogun red card for USA match | World Cup 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Belgium\u2019s football federation (RBFA) says it is \u201castonished\u201d by FIFA\u2019s controversial decision<\/a> to suspend the one-match red card ban on USA striker Folarin Balogun and is \u201cinvestigating all potential options\u201d to uphold integrity in the sport.<\/p>\n

The World Cup was plunged into uproar on Sunday after FIFA suspended a red card given to Balogun ahead of the host nation\u2019s clash with Belgium, in a bombshell move welcomed by US President Donald Trump but slammed by Belgian officials.<\/p>\n

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The extraordinary FIFA ruling means that Balogun is now free to play for the USA against Belgium on Monday in Seattle, with a place in the quarterfinals at stake.<\/p>\n

The Royal Belgian Football Association said it is \u201cinvestigating all potential options\u201d to \u201csafeguard the legitimate rights of all participating teams and to protect the fundamental principles of fair play in our sport\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t know that at the FIFA World Cup, the 5th of July is now the 1st of April, and that it\u2019s April Fool\u2019s Day,\u201d added Belgium coach Rudi Garcia at a news conference.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of our thoughts and opinions are in the release,\u201d Garcia said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not defending the national team or the federation, we are defending football.\u201d<\/p>\n

Balogun had been set to miss Monday\u2019s last-16 knockout clash with the Belgians after receiving a straight red card<\/a> following a video review for stepping on the foot of a Bosnian defender in a round-of-32 clash that the US won 2-0.<\/p>\n

Under FIFA rules, a straight red card automatically triggers a one-game ban, which cannot be appealed by the player\u2019s team.<\/p>\n

But FIFA said on Sunday that the ban will now be suspended for a year, in a stunning move for which no specific explanation was offered.<\/p>\n

It is the first instance of a red-carded player being allowed to play in his team\u2019s subsequent match since the introduction of the yellow and red card rules at the 1970 edition of the World Cup.<\/p>\n

\u2018We are not the bad men\u2019<\/p>\n

Top scorer Balogun has been key to the USA\u2019s progress in the tournament, netting three times, and his absence against Belgium would have been a blow to the team in Seattle.<\/p>\n

The stakes are huge for the cohosts, whose strong start to the tournament has raised expectations to fever-pitch levels among the American public, and they are targeting a run to at least the quarterfinals. The last time the USA reached the quarters was in 2002.<\/p>\n

Balogun himself had said on Friday that the red card ban was \u201csomething I have to just accept\u201d.<\/p>\n

However, the 25-year-old celebrated FIFA\u2019s U-turn with an Instagram post of himself in the US team jersey and Michael Jackson\u2019s Bad attached as the audio.<\/p>\n

USA players and officials welcomed the news, which they received on their way to training on Sunday morning.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think a lot of us thought it was AI at first,\u201d defender Chris Richards said. \u201cI think we were really excited because we found out through social media; it was cool. It was a lot of question marks, but just very, very happy and excited overall.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels right,\u201d forward Christian Pulisic added. \u201cReally excited for him to have this opportunity. To see the smile on his face and to be able to give us a boost tomorrow is great.\u201d<\/p>\n

Head coach Mauricio Pochettino said that \u201cit\u2019s a fair decision because it should have never been a red card\u201d, calling the punishment \u201ctoo big\u201d for an unintentional foul.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not that we are victims, but we are not the bad men, the mean ones here,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

FIFA decision \u2018a bit of a surprise\u2019<\/p>\n

In its statement, FIFA pointed to \u201carticle 27 of the FIFA disciplinary code\u201d, which allows the suspension to be \u201csuspended for a probationary period of one year\u201d.<\/p>\n

Balogun would serve the ban only if he commits another similar foul in the next year, it said.<\/p>\n

There is some precedent for the decision.<\/p>\n

Portugal superstar Cristiano Ronaldo earned a three-game ban for an elbow during qualifying last year, but had two matches of his ban suspended.<\/p>\n

The move, which allowed Ronaldo to play in Portugal\u2019s World Cup opener, drew criticism at the time.<\/p>\n

Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois said it was \u201ca bit of a surprise\u201d that Balogun was cleared to play just a day before the match.<\/p>\n

\u201cHad it been done earlier, we\u2019d have been able to be mentally more prepared, perhaps,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

FIFA\u2019s decision has stirred up a social media storm, with mixed reactions to the suspension.<\/p>\n

DR Congo footballer Yannick Bolasie expressed his dismay at the decision by saying the reaction to FIFA\u2019s U-turn would have been quite different had it been taken in the Africa Cup of Nations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Belgium\u2019s football federation (RBFA) says it is \u201castonished\u201d by FIFA\u2019s controversial decision to suspend the one-match red card…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":26499,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4],"tags":[7,499,1857,1865,3206],"class_list":["post-26498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-belgium","tag-belgium","tag-football","tag-sport","tag-us-canada","tag-world-cup-2026"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@be\/116870208858075418","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26498","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26498"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26498\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26499"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}