AFCON 2025
United States striker Folarin Balogun has been cleared to play in Monday’s FIFA World Cup Round of 16 clash against Belgium national football team after FIFA suspended the one-match ban handed to him following his controversial red card against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
According to The Guardian, US President Donald Trump personally lobbied FIFA to overturn the suspension, making three calls to football’s world governing body from Wednesday in a bid to have the forward available for the knockout fixture.
Balogun had been sent off during the United States’ last-32 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina after a VAR review determined that he had stepped on defender Tarik Muharemovic’s ankle. Although referee Raphael Claus initially allowed play to continue, he upgraded the incident to a straight red card for serious foul play after reviewing the footage.
The dismissal sparked widespread debate, with many observers, including the US camp, insisting the challenge was accidental.
FIFA’s disciplinary committee later ruled that Balogun’s suspension would be lifted under Article 27 of its disciplinary code, allowing him to feature against Belgium. While the red card remains on his disciplinary record, the striker will only serve the one-match suspension if he commits another offence of a similar nature within the next year.
Reacting to the decision, Trump praised FIFA on his Truth Social platform.
“Thank you to FIFA for doing what was right, and reversing a great injustice!”
The decision has, however, drawn criticism from the Royal Belgian Football Association, which described the ruling as “astonished” and argued that it contradicts FIFA statutes, under which red cards automatically carry a one-match suspension. The federation added that it was “investigating all potential options.”
A spokesperson for US Soccer confirmed the federation was involved in the process that eventually saw Balogun declared eligible for the last-16 encounter.
“We accept the decision of the disciplinary committee and are pleased that Folarin Balogun is eligible to compete tomorrow.”
United States defender Chris Richards revealed that players first learned of the decision through reports circulating on social media while travelling to training before receiving official confirmation.
“My family probably sent me eight tweets. I wasn’t sure, nobody told us ahead of time that this was happening,” Richards said.
“I think everyone knows with AI and with this and that, there can be a few question marks, but ultimately we found out through social media. It was just cool to finally get the confirmation that it was true.”
Richards also praised Balogun’s response after learning he would be available again.
“He’s playing it Mr Cool right now. We look to Flo to kind of lead the front line, and he’s done it really well throughout the tournament, so I think we’re really happy and excited that that’s been overturned… clearly they saw something in the decision that they thought deserved to be overturned.”
Captain Christian Pulisic admitted the team had already begun preparing for life without Balogun before the suspension was reversed.
“It just feels right. I felt like Balo handled it so well, and I think the team handled it well. We weren’t here to complain or make some more out of it. You have to handle it in a good way, and, you know, good things happen to people like that.”
Balogun had earlier described the red card as a surreal experience, maintaining that he wanted to set the right example despite believing the decision was harsh.
“I never want to react out of anger and out of emotion. There’s still lots of people we’re inspiring, little kids, boys and girls who are watching, and we have to show them the correct way to handle things, even when you think it’s unjust.”
Balogun has been one of the standout performers for the United States at the tournament, scoring three goals in three starts, and his return is expected to provide a major boost as the co-hosts seek a place in the World Cup quarter-finals for the first time since 2002.
