Watch: U.S. Soccer Player Weston McKennie Calls Teammate Folorin Balogun’s Red Card Suspension “Bogus”
Folarin Balogun‘s red card has Team USA fans seeing red.
The U.S. forward received the shocking disciplinary action for a foul on Bosnia and Herzegovina defender Tarik Muharemovic during the teams’ round-of-32 World Cup match in Santa Clara, Calif., July 1.
As the players fought for the ball, Balogun tried to get in position and became entangled with Muharemovic—with his foot ultimately landing on the defender’s ankle. After the referee watched the replay through a VAR review, he gave Balogun a red card.
Not only was the 24-year-old sent off the field for the remainder of the game, but he will also be suspended from Team USA’s upcoming match against Belgium in the Round of 16 which the U.S. advanced to—marking the men’s team’s first knockout round win in 24 years—after beating Bosnia and Herzegovina with a final score of 2 to 0.
For those kicking around the idea of appealing the red card and suspension, a FIFA official, citing its rules, told The Athletic this can’t be done. Still, some of Balogun’s teammates are calling foul on the decision.
“I think it’s questionable,” U.S. midfielder Weston McKennie said about the red card after the match, per USA Today. “I think there’s been many other plays like that throughout the tournament on other players that a card wasn’t given at all, so it’s disappointing. I don’t think it’s a red card, if anything maybe a yellow, but [it was] unintentional.”
As for Balogun’s suspension, McKennie didn’t dribble around how he felt about that either.
“I think in this stage of the tournament where every player is important,” he continued, “I think it’s a bit bogus.”
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U.S. forward Christian Pulisic also defended Balogun, who scored the first goal for Team USA in the match before midfielder Malik Tillman secured the second.
“We put on such a good performance and didn’t deserve the red card,” Pulisic noted to Fox Sports after the game. “I mean, I didn’t see it, but it’s unfortunate. But for us to dig in deep like that and just to get another goal and to defend the way we did, it took a real team effort. So, we’re proud of that.”
Team USA’s coach Mauricio Pochettino kept the ball rolling on the support.
“That was a normal action in football that happened by accident,” he told reporters after the game, “and it’s never intentional. That is why, for me, it’s never a red card.”
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Other athletes on Team Balogun included World Cup champions Abby Wambach—with her noting on Instagram “I don’t think it’s a red, that’s a tough decision by the ref”—and Thierry Henry.
“I think it was unfortunate—let’s all be honest,” the French soccer star-turned-analyst said on Fox Sports. “If you pose at that moment and you see the picture, it looks awful. But you need to have some type of common sense. He never went to hurt nobody. He went to get the ball. And where do you land after? He’s going to have to land somewhere. And unfortunately, if you press pause at the right time, it looks not great.”
Until Team USA’s next match on July 6, have a ball seeing stars at the 2026 World Cup.
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