Folarin Balogun scored his third goal of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, helped the USMNT beat Bosnia-Herzegovina 2-0, and then got thrown out of the game. Within hours, a Solana-based meme token bearing his name was already trading.
What happened on the pitch
The USMNT’s round-of-32 match at Levi’s Stadium should have been a straightforward celebration. Balogun opened the scoring to extend his tournament-leading tally to three goals, and Malik Tillman added a second via free kick to seal a 2-0 result.
Then came the red card. In the 64th minute, Balogun was shown a straight red for a challenge that left just about everyone in the stadium confused. John Harkes, a member of the 1994 USMNT World Cup squad, was in attendance and didn’t mince words.
“We kept going, ‘Wait a minute, that’s not a red card.'”
