{"id":28814,"date":"2026-07-14T22:11:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T22:11:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/28814\/"},"modified":"2026-07-14T22:11:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T22:11:13","slug":"folarin-balogun-admits-overturned-suspension-at-2026-world-cup-affected-usa-vs-belgium","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/28814\/","title":{"rendered":"Folarin Balogun admits overturned suspension at 2026 World Cup affected USA vs Belgium"},"content":{"rendered":"

Although Folarin Balogun was initially ruled out for the USA\u2019s Round of 16 clash against Belgium, FIFA controversially suspended his red card ban<\/a>\u2014a decision the striker felt ultimately backfired on his team.<\/p>\n

According to Donald Trump, he personally reached out to FIFA President Gianni Infantino to advocate for overturning Balogun\u2019s red card<\/a>. Ultimately, the striker was reinstated and cleared to play, sparking intense outrage within the Belgian Football Association<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Despite Balogun starting against the Red Devils, the USMNT<\/a> was thoroughly defeated and eliminated from the World Cup. Reflecting after the match, the striker, after apologizing to USA\u2019s fans over the elimination,<\/a> admitted that the controversy surrounding his presence on the pitch may have negatively impacted the team\u2019s focus and performance.<\/p>\n

\u201cI could almost see within my teammates a bit of nerves because it was something that\u2019s so unique,\u201c Balogun told CBS on Tuesday. \u201cBut the closer we got to the game, I tried to just focus as best as I could.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Folarin<\/p>\n

Folarin Balogun #20 of the United States.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen something is not intentional \u2026 it should never be a red card. So it was just an unfortunate situation and I think, you know, it put a lot more pressure on us than we needed. \u201c<\/p>\n

Belgium showed no mercy to the USMNT<\/p>\n

Following FIFA\u2019s decision to overturn Balogun\u2019s suspension<\/a>, the Belgian camp was left in complete disbelief. Several players voiced their frustration publicly before taking their answer directly to the pitch.<\/p>\n

Belgium dominated the USMNT in a 4-1 victory and appeared determined to push the scoreline even higher. After the match, goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois went as far as claiming that Senegal had provided a tougher test<\/a>, making no secret of his disgust over Balogun\u2019s reinstatement.<\/p>\n

While Belgium was eventually eliminated by Spain in the quarterfinals, supporters of the Red Devils viewed the statement victory over the USA as a massive point of pride\u2014overcoming pre-match controversy to deliver a commanding performance on the pitch.<\/p>\n

Balogun didn\u2019t make an impact vs Belgium<\/p>\n

Belgium complained vocally about Balogun\u2019s reinstatement, given his strong 2026 World Cup campaign. However, the striker made virtually no impact during their Round of 16 clash against the Red Devils, who mocked the USMNT during the game<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Balogun<\/a> played all 90 minutes without registering a single shot on target. He finished with a modest 6.3 rating on Sofascore, reflecting the heavy burden and scrutiny surrounding his high-profile reintegration.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Although Folarin Balogun was initially ruled out for the USA\u2019s Round of 16 clash against Belgium, FIFA controversially…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":28815,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4],"tags":[7,4559,4529],"class_list":["post-28814","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-belgium","tag-belgium","tag-folarin-balogun","tag-usmnt"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@be\/116920627125456017","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28814","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=28814"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28814\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28815"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28814"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28814"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}