FIFA's Disciplinary Committee suspended Folarin Balogun's one-game red card ban for a one-year probation, allowing him to play the U.S. men's national team's Round of 16 match against Belgium Monday in Seattle.
Balogun received the red card last Wednesday during the 2-0 U.S. victory over Bosnia-Herzegovina after he stepped on the ankle of Bosnian defender Tarik Muharemović as the two tangled while going after the ball, and a video referee recommended the red following a replay review of slow-motion video and stills.
"In line with article 27 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code, the implementation of the match suspension is suspended for a probationary period of one year," FIFA said in a statement. "If Folarin Balogun commits another infringement of a similar nature and gravity during the probationary period, the suspension shall be revoked and the sanction enforced without prejudice to any additional sanction imposed for the new infringement."
U.S. Soccer said in a statement, "We accept the decision of the Disciplinary Committee and are pleased that Folarin Balogun is eligible to compete [Monday]. Our full attention is focused on the Round of 16 match against Belgium in Seattle, and we look forward to the continued support of our amazing fans."
"I'm mostly just happy for him, seeing that smile on his face. He deserves to be playing in this game," U.S. winger Christian Pulisic said, and he called the referee's decision to give Balogun a red card "extremely harsh."
Balogun said after the game that the contact had been unintentional and that he accepted the referee's decision: "I never want to react out of anger and out of emotion. There's still lots of people we're inspiring, little kids, boys and girls who are watching. We have to show the correct way to handle things even when you think it's unjust."
President Trump wrote on Truth Social, "Thank you to FIFA for doing what was right, and reversing a great injustice!"
The disciplinary committee's decision was described as highly unusual, though a similar action had been taken previously when a suspension for Cristiano Ronaldo was put on hold and shortened, the committee noted.
Players said Balogun had been practicing with the team despite the initial suspension. Alex Freeman said Balogun had intended to "be here for the team" and that with the suspension lifted he will be able to "bring physicality" and "hold up play," while Chris Richards said Balogun's return "gives us a little bit more confidence."
The team learned of the decision on Sunday morning while riding a bus to a training session in Seattle.
Balogun has scored three goals so far in the World Cup, and the winner of Monday's match will advance to the quarterfinals.
Sources said Trump made three calls to FIFA, starting Wednesday, to appeal for the change that cleared Balogun to play; FIFA declined to comment and the White House did not respond to a request for comment.
There were reports that the White House World Cup taskforce, chaired by Andrew Giuliani, had in effect launched a legal challenge against Balogun's suspension focused on the use of slow-motion replays in making VAR decisions; the White House has not responded to requests for comment on those reports.
Mauricio Pochettino praised FIFA's decision, saying, "Everyone that really loves the sport and trusts ethics and integrity, I think we celebrate all that decision," and adding that slow-motion VAR replays can make incidents look worse than they were. He said U.S. Soccer officials had been "working to defend our situation," and mentioned US Soccer CEO JT Batson as among those involved.
The Royal Belgium Football Association issued a strongly worded statement saying it was "astonished by this decision" and that it was "in direct contradiction to the provisions of the World Cup 2026 competition regulations." The statement said the automatic nature of such a suspension was explicitly reaffirmed in World Cup 2026 Circular No. 16, which was distributed to all participating member associations on May 12, 2026, and left open the possibility of legal action.
Several hours earlier the U.S. squad learned of Balogun's eligibility via social media reports; defender Chris Richards said with a chuckle that many thought the news was generated by artificial intelligence at first. Pulisic added that personnel can change and that opponents must be ready for different options, while Belgium manager Rudi Garcia quipped that FIFA may have confused July 5 for April 1.
Previous use of Article 27 has affected World Cup availability before: FIFA used the clause to alter Cristiano Ronaldo's suspension, reducing an initial three-game ban to one match so that he was available for Portugal's opening World Cup games, the committee noted.
UEFA said FIFA "crossed a red line" in suspending Balogun's ban and described the decision as "unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable," warning that the certainty of rules is essential to the integrity and credibility of the competition.
The Royal Belgian Football Association has been granted an appeal against Balogun's eligibility for Monday's match, and the RBFA has not received FIFA's reasons for rescinding the suspension, leaving it to pursue legal action if necessary.
Sources familiar with the matter said Balogun's reinstatement followed contact between President Trump and FIFA President Gianni Infantino; those contacts were among multiple communications that also involved discussions between Infantino and Andrew Giuliani and communications with Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick.
Prominent commentators condemned the decision: Wayne Rooney called it an "absolute disgrace," and Gary Neville said it "absolutely stinks." European officials also criticized the intervention, with European commissioner Glen Micallef saying, "Decisions on sporting rules and sporting matters belong to sporting bodies, not politicians."
Under FIFA's disciplinary code, serious foul play typically carries a ban of at least two matches, and Article 27, which allows FIFA to fully or partially suspend the implementation of a disciplinary measure, has not previously been used at a World Cup; historically only two players sent off at the World Cup have not served suspensions, the other case dating to 1962.
Belgium's foreign minister, Maxime Prévot, said that if a phone call was the reason for this decision, "it would be a blatant violation of the most basic rules of football and sport."
As per FIFA regulations, Belgium's appeal will be heard by a member of FIFA's appeals committee who does not represent UEFA or CONCACAF to avoid a potential conflict of interest.
Trump confirmed Monday that he asked FIFA President Gianni Infantino to review Balogun's red card and denied unduly influencing the disciplinary committee's decision, saying, "Yes, I asked for a review by FIFA. All I did was ask for a review. I didn't say that you have to do this." He described the collision between Balogun and Muharemović as the two players being "sort of entangled," said it was "very unfair" to penalize a player for a game that "hasn't been played yet," and cast suspicions on the referee, Brazilian official Raphael Claus, calling him "a little bit suspect, if you check his past." He said he had not spoken with the Belgian prime minister but would be open to doing so, Trump said.