Balogun admits red-card chaos ‘Put a lot more pressure on us’ as USMNT crash out of World Cup

United States striker Folarin Balogun has admitted that the controversy surrounding the suspension of his World Cup red card created a destabilizing “circus” that negatively impacted his teammates ahead of their humiliating round-of-16 exit at the hands of Belgium.

In a candid interview with CBS Mornings, the 25-year-old forward revealed that what should have been a moment of relief quickly soured into a distracting media firestorm that left the squad battling “outside noise” and “a bit of nerves” on the biggest stage.

“It put a lot more pressure on us than we needed”

Balogun was shown a straight red card during the USMNT’s round-of-32 victory over Bosnia-Herzegovina after what appeared to be innocuous contact with defender Tarik Muharemovic. The automatic one-match suspension meant he was certain to miss the knockout clash against Belgium—until FIFA’s disciplinary committee made an unprecedented U-turn, suspending the ban for one year and placing Balogun on probation instead.

The reversal came just 24 hours before kick-off, following a personal intervention from President Donald Trump, who admitted calling FIFA President Gianni Infantino to request a review.

“Everybody was screaming and shouting” on the team bus when the news broke, Balogun recalled. But the initial euphoria quickly gave way to unease.

“My initial reaction was I was happy to be back in the team, but when I kind of started to reflect, I knew it was going to cause a lot of controversy,” Balogun told CBS. “And I could almost see within my teammates a bit of nerves. Because it is something that is so unique.”

“It added a lot of pressure on us when we really didn’t need it,” he continued. “I could see the whole situation affected my teammates. It was unsettling because the team trained without me, only for us to find out two days before the match that I was eligible to play.”

A tactical nightmare

Beyond the psychological toll, the last-minute decision threw Mauricio Pochettino’s preparations into chaos. The coaching staff had spent days devising a game plan without their leading goalscorer—only to have to overhaul their tactics in a matter of hours.

“It was confusing because the team is practicing without me being in the team,” Balogun said. “I’m almost just playing a supporting role to try and keep the morale high and then think it was a day or two days before kickoff I get told I am back in the team.”

A global firestorm

The decision sparked outrage across the football world. Belgium coach Rudi Garcia said his side was “prepared to defend the credibility of the sport” after Balogun was ruled eligible. Norway manager Stale Solbakken called it “a bad, bad, bad, bad, bad decision that will hurt the World Cup.” Even former FIFA president Sepp Blatter weighed in, writing: “Red cards are not overturned by political phone calls.”

Belgium humiliation

When the match finally arrived, the USMNT looked out of sorts from the opening whistle. Belgium dismantled the co-hosts 4-1 in Seattle, exposing a team that appeared mentally fragmented before a ball had even been kicked.

Balogun, asked whether the circus had contributed to the defeat, offered a measured but revealing response.

“It’s more just being able to separate the emotion from the job at hand,” he said. “We’re all professionals. From me being inside the camp, I know we had full concentration going into the game.”

“It wasn’t even a tackle”

On the red card itself, Balogun remains adamant that the original decision was wrong. “I was in shock. It wasn’t even a tackle,” he said. “When something’s not intentional, it should never be a red card. It was just an unfortunate situation.”

For a USMNT that had captured the nation’s imagination with its first knockout-stage win in 24 years, the controversy proved an unwelcome distraction. What should have been a celebration of American soccer’s resurgence instead became a story of alleged favoritism, political interference, and a team that lost its focus when it mattered most.