If you told me a week ago that the USMNT would be heading into a massive Round of 16 World Cup clash against Belgium with our leading goalscorer on the pitch, I would have said, “Duh, of course we are.” If you told me three days ago, I would have called you delusional and told you to accept the fact that Folarin Balogun was banned. Yet, here we are. FIFA’s eleventh-hour decision to suspend Balogun’s red card ban changes everything for Monday’s knockout game in Seattle. Having Balogun up top gives us an immediate, lethal focal point. With three goals already this tournament, he draws defenders, creates space for Christian Pulisic, and gives Mauricio Pochettino his absolute best tactical blueprint to break down a physical Belgian backline.
But man, how did we even get here?
The chaos started during our tense 2-0 Round of 32 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina. Balogun was the hero of the first half, putting us ahead with a calm finish. But the narrative flipped completely in the 64th minute when he went into a standard challenge with Bosnian defender Tarik Muharemovic. It was a completely accidental coming-together—Balogun was fighting for the ball, and as he came down, his foot naturally landed on Muharemovic’s ankle. The on-field referee, Raphael Claus, didn't even whistle for a foul initially. But then VAR stepped in. They forced Claus to watch a hyper-analyzed, slow-motion replay of the contact. Strip away the momentum and look at it frame-by-frame, and suddenly a clumsy, unavoidable football play looks like malicious assault. Claus brandished a straight red for violent conduct, leaving the team, Pochettino, and every American watching completely furious at how harsh and unjust the call was.
Because it was a straight red, it triggered an automatic one-match ban. Under standard FIFA tournament rules, the U.S. Soccer Federation had absolutely no right to appeal. FIFA officials even spent the end of the week explicitly insisting to journalists that the ban was final and Balogun was out.
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Then Sunday arrived, and FIFA pulled a complete rabbit out of its hat.
They invoked Chapter 4, Article 27 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code, a niche rule that grants their judicial bodies the discretionary authority to fully or partially suspend the implementation of a disciplinary measure. Essentially, Balogun isn't fully exonerated; his red card is placed on a one-year "probation". If he gets another red or commits a similar infringement over the next year, this suspended ban is instantly slapped back on top of any new punishment. Reports indicate FIFA used this loophole because the VAR technical protocol was completely botched. Since it wasn't a "clear and obvious" error, VAR should have never intervened in the first place. But FIFA announced this reversal with a stunning lack of transparency, leaving neutrals and critics around the globe scratching their heads at how a final, unappealable ban vanished overnight.
Let's be real: we've seen this exact movie from FIFA before. They have a long history of making things up as they go when marquee games or tournament headliners are at risk of missing the spotlight. Look no further than when they used this exact same Article 27 loophole to magically clear Cristiano Ronaldo to start the opening games of a past World Cup after he picked up a red card against the Republic of Ireland. When the commercial success of a major tournament hangs in the balance, FIFA has a funny habit of finding a back-room technicality to keep the stars on the pitch.
As a USMNT fan, I am absolutely ecstatic that our star player is cleared to play in the biggest game of our summer. We need him, and frankly, the original red card was a garbage call anyway. But as a sports fan, I can’t help but feel a little dirty about it. The way FIFA handles these situations feels incredibly sketchy, highly arbitrary, and reeks of favoritism for a tournament host. I’ll take the massive break, but I won’t pretend the system isn't completely broken. Let's just win on Monday and put the drama behind us.