Seattle, United States.– FIFA announced this Sunday the suspension of the sanction imposed on American forward Folarin Balogun following his expulsion in the match against Bosnia and Herzegovina, meaning the attacker will be available to play in the 2026 World Cup round of 16 match against Belgium.
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The sport’s highest governing body reported that it applied Article 27 of its Disciplinary Code ex officio, suspending the automatic sanction for a probationary period of one year.
Balogun was sent off last Wednesday following an action that was initially sanctioned with a straight red card. However, replays showed that the forward unintentionally stepped on the back of an opponent’s leg, which opened the debate regarding the severity of the referee’s decision.
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The FIFA determination was celebrated by the President of the United States, Donald Trump, who publicly thanked the organization for “doing the right thing” and correcting what he described as a “great injustice.” Days earlier, Secretary of State Marco Rubio had also questioned the expulsion and requested the existence of an appeals mechanism for these types of plays.
In contrast, the Royal Belgian Football Association expressed its surprise at the measure and announced that it is studying all possible options to defend what it considers the principles of fair play. The organization maintained that the Disciplinary Code establishes that a red card automatically implies a suspension for the next match.
Belgium’s head coach, Rudi Garcia, described the decision as an unprecedented event in the history of the World Cup and backed his federation’s stance.
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For his part, the United States coach, Mauricio Pochettino, defended FIFA’s resolution and asserted that Balogun’s expulsion was unfair from the beginning.
“We all celebrated that decision. We played for more than 35 minutes with one man down due to a red card that 99.9% of people consider unfair,” stated the Argentine coach.
With the Disciplinary Committee’s decision, Balogun will be able to reinforce the U.S. national team in a key match against Belgium for a spot in the 2026 World Cup quarterfinals.
