FIFA's Disciplinary Committee suspended Folarin Balogun's one-game red card ban for a one-year probation, allowing him to play and be named in the U.S. men's national team's starting lineup for the Round of 16 match Monday at Seattle Stadium at 8 p.m. ET, but the U.S. lost 1-4 to Belgium and were knocked out.
Balogun was shown a red card during the July 1 game against Bosnia-Herzegovina after he and defender Tarik Muharemović tangled while going after the ball and a replay review of slow-motion video and stills showed Balogun stepping on Muharemović's ankle.
The red card carried an automatic one-game suspension under Article 10.5 of FIFA's World Cup rules, and multiple FIFA officials said teams were unable to appeal red cards or the resulting suspensions.
U.S. Soccer said it accepts the Disciplinary Committee's decision and is pleased Balogun is eligible to compete. Head coach Mauricio Pochettino praised the ruling and said slow-motion VAR replays can make incidents look worse than they were while noting U.S. Soccer officials had been working to defend the situation. Players had been practicing with Balogun despite the suspension; Alex Freeman said Balogun wanted to "be here for the team" and would "bring physicality" and "hold up play," and Christian Pulisic said, "I'm mostly just happy for him, seeing that smile on his face. He deserves to be playing in this game."
The squad learned of the Disciplinary Committee decision on Sunday morning while riding a bus to a training session in Seattle, and Chris Richards said many initially thought the news was generated by artificial intelligence. Belgium manager Rudi Garcia quipped that FIFA may have confused July 5 for April 1.
Sources said President Trump made three calls to FIFA starting Wednesday to press for a review. Trump confirmed on Monday that he called FIFA President Gianni Infantino on Wednesday and asked for a review, saying, "All I did, I asked for a review, because I didn't think it was a foul" and that he thought "two great athletes that crashed [into] each other and got entangled." Infantino confirmed he received a call from Trump and said he told the president there was "an ongoing legal process involving FIFA's independent judicial bodies and that the case would be decided in due course by the competent bodies."
The Royal Belgian Football Association said it was "astonished" by FIFA's decision, that it "contests the eligibility" of Balogun and that it has "still not received any grounds" for the appeal committee rejecting its appeal. The federation later said its appeal had been deemed "inadmissible" by the FIFA Appeal Committee, accused FIFA of a "breach" of regulations for not providing its justifications and said it had informed the U.S. Soccer Federation that it contests Balogun's eligibility and will continue to challenge the decision.
FIFA said it relied on Article 27 of its disciplinary committee rules to reverse the game ban. Observers noted that if Balogun was allowed to play it would be the first time since 1962 that a red card issued at the World Cup did not result in a suspension.
The decision prompted widespread criticism. Shibley Telhami wrote on X, "This is embarrassing to a wonderful US team and a wonderful player. Keep politics out." Tim Ream said the Balogun furore "had no impact" on the match outcome.
The U.S. team finished the group stage with a 2-1 record, with wins over Paraguay and Australia before a loss to Turkey, and the team's round-of-32 victory was its first since 2002 and only its second knockout-round victory in program history. Belgium finished atop its group with one win and two draws and advanced from the round of 32 with a 3-2 win over Senegal.
In an interview with CBS News, defender Chris Richards said he gives credit to Balogun for the way he conducted himself after the red card, calling the Disciplinary Committee decision a "big relief." Richards said he did not have insight into how the appeal was handled and added that when "you have your starting guy who's been scoring a lot of goals for you this tournament, I think it definitely gives you maybe an extra ounce of confidence that you need." Richards said he and Balogun were among the starting XI for Monday night's match and that the same 11 players were named for the previous matches against Bosnia and Herzegovina and Paraguay. Richards, a 26-year-old center back for Premier League club Crystal Palace, said it is his first time representing the U.S. at the FIFA World Cup and called having the tournament on home soil "amazing" for American soccer culture.