Folarin Balogun has spoken out.
Now that the dust has settled on a disappointing end to a very solid 2026 World Cup campaign on home soil for the United States Men’s National Team, Balogun has begun doing the media rounds.
On Tuesday, he featured on CBS Mornings, where he revealed what was really going on in his mind when he received a red card for a a tackle which was deemed an offence on Bosnia and Herzegovina defender Tarik Muharemovic in the USMNT’s 2-0 win in the Round of 32.
“I was in shock. It wasn’t even a tackle,” Balogun revealed. “I was totally in shock, I think you could see that in my reaction.
“But I just had to accept the decision and just had to try and be there for my team. But as I said, I was definitely in shock.
“For sure [he didn’t feel the red card was justified]. When something isn’t intentional, it should never be a red card,” he continued.
“It was just an unfortunate situation, and I think it put a lot more pressure on us than we needed.”
Usually, a straight red card automatically leads to a minimum of a one-game suspension, but the most controversial moment of the World Cup came in the aftermath of Balogun’s sending off.
FIFA did the unexpected when they reversed the decision to suspend the USMNT’s star striker, instead suspending the one-game ban for a year, allowing him to suit up in a crucial knockout game against Belgium in the Round of 16.
It was later exclusively revealed by talkSPORT that FIFA president Gianni Infantino had received a call from US President Donald Trump asking him to review the red card.
UEFA accused FIFA of ‘crossing a red line.’
FIFA insists the call was made independently, and Chief Refereeing Officer Pierluigi Collina is adamant that officials are free to do their jobs without interreference.
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He said: “Nobody can claim that FIFA Refereeing can be influenced by anyone, not even by the FIFA President [Gianni Infantino]. He has always shown his full support for FIFA Team One while trusting us to work with complete independence.
“Match officials make honest decisions and, just like players and coaches, they always try to do their best.”
Folarin Balogun’s return failed to lift USMNT
Balogun was reintegrated into Mauricio Pochettino’s starting XI for the clash against Belgium as the Stars and Stripes suffered a scathing 4-1 defeat.
Balogun knew that the controversy surrounding the suspension of his red card would cause some unrest in the USMNT camp.
“My initial reaction was that I was happy to be back in the team,” Balogun explained. “But when I kind of started to reflect, I knew it was gonna cause a lot of controversy.
“I could almost see within my teammates a bit of nerves, because it’s something that’s so unique. The closer we got to the game, I tried to just focus as best as I could. But it was difficult. A lot of outside noise and that’s hard to avoid.”
While the ending to his tournament did not go as he had perhaps envisioned, it was still a memorable campaign for the AS Monaco forward after scoring three goals in four appearances.
Gianni Infantino under huge pressure as FIFA boss
Infantino position as FIFA president has was deemed ‘untenable’ by England legend Gary Lineker.
Even the IOC has been told to investigate.
However, Infantino has signaled his intent to run for a third term, which would see his tenure extended until 2031.
As it stands, it is unclear whether he will face any opposition for the position, although calls are growing from UEFA federations to back a candidate to run against him.
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