The United States striker at the heart of red card scandal at the ongoing 2026 FIFA World Cup, Folarin Balogun, has admitted that he knew FIFA’s decision to suspend his one-game ban at the tournament was going to create “a lot of controversy” and could see the resulting “nerves” among his team-mates.
Balogun, 25, was dismissed for serious foul play against Bosnia-Herzegovina in the Last 32 and should have received an automatic suspension.
However, FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee suspended his ban for a year – a decision that prompted widespread condemnation, particularly when it emerged US President Donald Trump and White House officials had lobbied football’s world governing body about the American’s sanction.
Balogun, who scored three goals at the World Cup, was able to start the USA’s Last-16 defeat by Belgium – a decision European football’s governing body UEFA called “unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable”.
“My initial reaction was that I was happy to be back in the team but when I started to reflect, I knew it was going to start a lot of controversy and I could almost see within my team-mates a bit of nerves because it is something that is so unique,” Balogun told CBSyesterday.
