Balogun reprieve sends U.S. into Belgium match amid controversy

The U.S. men’s national team will face Belgium in the World Cup round of 16 on Monday with striker Folarin Balogun back in the lineup after FIFA suspended his one-match ban, a surprise decision that drew anger from Belgium and fresh scrutiny after reports that President Donald Trump spoke with FIFA President Gianni Infantino about the case.

Balogun had been sent off in the Americans’ 2-0 victory over Bosnia-Herzegovina on Wednesday after he stepped on an opponent’s ankle while challenging for the ball. The decision came after video review, though the referee on the field initially saw no foul, NPR reported. The red card set off debate over whether the contact was intentional, whether the play should have been reviewed in slow motion and whether it merited dismissal.

By the time the U.S. arrived in Seattle for Monday’s match, Balogun, his teammates and coach Mauricio Pochettino appeared prepared to play without the team’s leading scorer. Then FIFA’s disciplinary committee announced Sunday that the one-game suspension would be suspended for a year-long probationary period, clearing Balogun to face Belgium.

FIFA’s statement did not explain the reasoning beyond citing its disciplinary rules, according to the reports. FIFA officials told multiple media outlets that the nature of the disciplinary process meant outside intervention could not influence the decision, The Guardian reported. NPR said FIFA did not respond to its request for comment.

The ruling was followed by reports that Trump had spoken personally with Infantino after the Bosnia-Herzegovina match. NPR, citing an official with knowledge of the private conversation who spoke on condition of anonymity, reported that Trump directly asked Infantino about the red card and suspension. The Guardian reported that Trump made a series of calls to Infantino as U.S. Soccer sought ways to suspend the ban. Trump later thanked FIFA on Truth Social for reversing what he called a “grave injustice,” The Guardian reported.

Pochettino welcomed the decision. “It was a fair decision because it was never a red card. It was a mistake,” he said Sunday. “Everyone has said it, 99.9% of people, that it was an unfair punishment.”

Belgium reacted sharply. Coach Rudi Garcia said he was stunned when he arrived for a pregame news conference in Seattle. “I didn’t know that, in the FIFA offices, July 5th was April Fool’s Day,” he said.

The Royal Belgian Football Association said it was “astonished” by FIFA’s decision and would examine “all potential options” for recourse. Garcia said the federation was acting on broader principle. “The Belgian federation isn’t only defending itself or the national team — it is defending all of football, its integrity and its ethics,” he said.

FIFA had already faced criticism during this World Cup for delaying a suspension for Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo, who received a red card in a qualifying match last November. NPR reported that Ronaldo’s three-game suspension could have kept him out of Portugal’s first two World Cup matches, but FIFA put the punishment on hold under the same regulation applied to Balogun. The Guardian reported that FIFA had done the same with a handful of players who earned suspensions before the tournament, but said doing so during the World Cup itself was without precedent.

Norway coach Ståle Solbakken also criticized the move after his team advanced to the quarterfinals with a win over Brazil on Sunday. “I think that’s a big mistake by FIFA,” he said, according to The Guardian. NPR quoted him adding: “What about the next red card? What happens then? Is there going to be some committee somewhere that is going to take that card away?”

Belgium enters as the highest-ranked opponent the U.S. has faced in this tournament. NPR reported Belgium was ranked No. 9 by FIFA before the World Cup, while the U.S. was No. 17. Belgium beat the Americans 5-2 in a March friendly after the U.S. took an early 1-0 lead.

“The result didn’t quite go our way. But that’s okay, we learned from it,” U.S. defender Chris Richards said Sunday. “Ultimately, we’re looking to the game tomorrow as a tough one, but also going into this game with confidence because of what we’ve done so far in the tournament.”

A U.S. win would send the men’s team to the quarterfinals for the first time since 2002, where it would face the winner of Spain and Portugal.