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FIFA is facing calls to publicly answer questions following the decision to overturn Folarin Balogun’s red card.
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Balogun, U.S.’s top striker, was set to miss Monday night’s Round of 16 game against Belgium. However, on Sunday morning, FIFA shockingly announced that the red card was being rescinded. Balogun will be made available on Monday night.
“USA striker Folarin Balogun will be available to play in the co-host’s FIFA World Cup 2026™ Round of 16 match against Belgium on Monday at Seattle Stadium. The FIFA Disciplinary Committee issued an update on Sunday on the status of the 25-year-old New York-born attacker, who has three goals for the Stars & Stripes at these global finals,” FIFA announced.
The red card has officially been suspended.
“By operation of Article 27 FDC, the implementation of the automatic match suspension for USA player Folarin Balogun is suspended for a probationary period of one (1) year.”
USMNT manager Mauricio Pochettino defended the decision.
“We were punished enough against Bosnia to play with 10 men for 30 minutes, in a decision that was unfair … It’s not because I’m the head coach of the USA… I think 99.9% of people agree it was an unfair red card.”
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But FIFA is still facing calls to answer questions.
FIFA urged to make officials publicly available
FIFA is being urged to make officials publicly available to the media, to answer questions about whatever happened here.
“Regardless of one’s view on the original red card (wrong imo), FIFA’s decision makers – most notably Collina and Infantino – need to be made available for proper media questioning on this. It’s in the interests of all parties to give full transparency to the process,” Adam Crafton tweeted.
He’s right – regardless of what the process was, FIFA needs to do a better job of explaining what exactly happened.
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U.S. vs. Belgium is set for Monday night at 8 p.m. E.T.
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This story was originally published July 5, 2026 at 4:00 PM.