Card row destabilised the USA at the World Cup, reveals Balogun

One week after the elimination from the 2026 FIFA World Cup, American forward Folarin Balogun broke his silence and revealed what was going on behind the scenes in the United States camp before the round-of-16 clash against Belgium.

The player detailed how the intervention of U.S. President Donald Trump — over the review of the red card — psychologically affected the team.

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Balogun had been sent off in the round of 32 against Bosnia and Herzegovina (a 2-0 win) after making a hard, though unintentional, foul.

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The automatic suspension, however, was ultimately overturned, and the forward was on the field against the Belgians.

The review of the play was requested by Donald Trump in a phone call to FIFA president Gianni Infantino, something that caused major repercussions over alleged political interference in the organization — something Infantino vehemently denied.

In an interview with the program CBS Mornings, Balogun said the episode harmed the team’s sporting preparation for the match against the Belgians, which ended in a 4-1 defeat for the U.S.

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"I could sense some nervousness among my teammates because it was a very unusual situation. It put much more pressure on us than we needed," he said.

The 25-year-old player highlighted the impact of the "external noise" in the days leading up to the decisive match:

"As the game got closer, I tried to focus as best I could. But it was incredibly difficult — there was a lot of noise and distraction from the outside, and it’s hard to completely shut that out," he said.

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Despite the turmoil, Balogun said he was "completely shocked" by the original sending-off and defended the reversal of the punishment: "If something isn’t intentional, it should never be a red card. It was just an unfortunate play."

FIFA justified the suspension of the punishment (converted into one year of "probation") based on Article 27 of its disciplinary code.

The Belgian football federation, in turn, reacted with outrage to the release of the opposing player on the eve of the match, the same stance taken by UEFA.

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This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.

📸 David Ramos - 2026 Getty Images

  • United States
  • Belgium
  • Arsenal Under 23
  • World Cup
  • Folarin Balogun

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Source: Onefootball.com