FIFA has suspended the one-game red-card ban sustained by U.S. striker Folarin Balogun in the Round of 32 against Bosnia and Herzegovina on July 1, making him available to play in the team’s Round of 16 match against Belgium on Monday.
Balogun—the USMNT’s top goal scorer and a breakout star of the 2026 World Cup—was given a red card for stepping on the ankle of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Tarik Muharemović while falling in the match’s 64th minute. The decision came after a lengthy officiating review and sparked outrage among U.S. fans, who flocked to social media to argue the contact was accidental.
After the match, FIFA officials confirmed that the red card and subsequent ban could not be appealed. But that decision has since been reversed.
In a statement posted to its website Sunday, FIFA wrote: “By operation of Article 27 FDC, the implementation of the automatic match suspension for USA player Folarin Balogun is suspended for a probationary period of one (1) year.”
Article 27 of FIFA’s disciplinary code, noted by The Athletic, states that the organization’s judicial body reserves the right “to fully or partially suspend the implementation of a disciplinary measure.”
