USMNT midfielder Weston McKennie questioned how Folarin Balogun could be shown a red card during the team’s 2–0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina when other players, including Lionel Messi, have avoided punishment for similar fouls.After opening the scoring in the round-of-16 clash, Balogun was sent off with around 25 minutes remaining after catching Tarik Muharemović on the Achilles. A VAR check and pitchside review followed and the Monaco striker was subsequently given his marching orders.A decision has divided opinion and brought comparisons to a particularly nasty challenge from Messi during Argentina’s 3–0 victory over Algeria, which drew a formal complaint from the Algerian Football Federation after it went unpunished.“I think it was questionable,” McKennie reflected. “There have been many other plays like that throughout the tournament on other players where a card wasn’t given at all.“It’s disappointing and I don’t know the protocol of how they come to the conclusion. From what my teammates have said, I don’t think it’s a red card. Maybe yellow, but unintentional.”FIFA Slammed Over Lack of Appeal ProtocolFolarin Balogun will miss the USMNT’s game against Belgium. | Xu Chang/Xinhua/Getty ImagesA FIFA spokesperson has already confirmed to Sports Illustrated that the U.S. cannot appeal Balogun’s suspension, instead pointing simply to the rules about an automatic ban for any player that is shown a red card.“Typical FIFA,” Tyler Adams said of the refusal to allow an appeal, which McKennie also described as “a bit bogus” and star forward Christian Pulisic felt was “ridiculous.”“I don’t know the rules, but of course, just watching it now, it’s just disappointing,” Pulisic added. “I understand it’s a dangerous act in a way. But he’s just trying to put his foot on the ground, and it wasn’t high on his leg. It’s just so unfortunate. It’s disappointing.”Because of the inability to appeal, Balogun will serve an automatic one-game suspension against Belgium in the next round. FIFA does also have the power to increase the ban if a review believes the challenge deserves a harsher punishment.WIN FIFA WORLD CUP 2026™ FINAL TICKETS & OTHER PRIZESCompete against the world. | Sports Illustrated“For me it’s never a red card,” manager Mauricio Pochettino concluded. “Watching it after on TV, it was never the intention, to step on to the player, it’s a normal action in football that happens by accident. It’s never intentional. It’s never a red card.“That should be fair, to appeal and demonstrate that it wasn’t a red card.”While the overwhelming response to the decision was one of negativity, Pochettino did attempt to find some encouragement from the maturity of his players’ on-field reactions to a day of controversy.“Today, in all the 50/50 decisions, none were for us and the players reacted very well,” he said. “We controlled that emotional part of the game and that’s so important. How they managed the situation was amazing, we showed maturity.”READ THE LATEST USMNT NEWS, ANALYSIS AND INSIGHT FROM SI FCAdd us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow