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Call it “Balogun-Gate.”
The debate over whether Folarin Balogun’s suspension should have been overturned is generating some of the wildest sports media hot takes of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
With the young U.S. men’s national team star now set to take the pitch tonight against Belgium in the critical Round of 16 match, media fulminations over his last-minute reprieve are shattering brick and concrete.
It started with President Donald Trump’s involvement in getting FIFA to review the one-game suspension against the U.S. striker for fouling Tarik Muharemovic of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Team USA’s 2-0 Round of 32 victory.
Yes, it appears that Trump is strong-arming FIFA. True, that red card was a dubious call against Team USA’s best player. But our polarizing president is reviled in much of the media. The thought of Trump clumsily intervening in the beautiful game drove some from the soccer establishment into a pearl-clutching frenzy on Monday.
British-American journalist Mehdi Hasan had perhaps the worst take, agreeing with one critic that Balogun should refuse to play tonight for the sake of sportsmanship.
“This would be the right thing for @balogun to do,” Hasan wrote on X/Twitter. “To reject the unfair (dodgy?) intervention from @realDonaldTrump.”
The Guardian saw it as an opportunity to not just criticize Trump, but also the United States. “Trump has done the most American thing possible: assert undue, unwelcome, unasked-for influence and power to get his way,” thundered Pablo Iglesias Maurer.
Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter, who resigned amid a corruption scandal in 2015, earned the hypocrite of the tournament award.
“Red cards are not overturned by political phone calls. They are overturned by rules, evidence and independent bodies,” Blatter managed to tweet with a straight face. “If a U.S. President intervenes with the FIFA President — and a player is suddenly cleared before a World Cup knockout match — the question is unavoidable: Quo vadis, FIFA? Football must never become a playground for political power.”
The amused reaction on Twitter? The disgraced Blatter might want to sit this one out. As radio host Patrick Creighton tweeted: “Dude ejected from FIFA & banned from FIFA for corruption by FIFA Ethics Committee, is claiming corruption over a red card violation being suspended. Now that’s frickin rich.”
Even ESPN suggested that Trump’s intervention could put an asterisk on a Team USA victory. “Nobody benefits from FIFA letting Balogun off the hook — not even the USMNT,” warned senior writer Mark Ogden.
As the World Cup’s U.S. broadcaster, Fox Sports analysts had to dance carefully around the issue. Unsurprisingly, the studio team of Stu Holden, Clint Dempsey, Alexi Lalas, and Rob Stone were all in favor of Balogun returning to action tonight.
“As far as this U.S. team is concerned, they feel it’s the right decision, I feel it’s the right decision,” said Holden. Dempsey agreed: “Obviously, being an American, I’m excited about the news about him being available and back on the team.”
But Thierry Henry injected some doubt by asking “Article 27?” in reference to FIFA’s disciplinary code. The former France star had previously acknowledged he didn’t agree with Balogun being given the red card.
To that end, I thought Zlatan Ibrahimovic got to the heart of the matter when he said the ref caused the controversy in the first place with a bad call.
“This is not Balo’s fault. He is super happy. And we’re happy to see him on the pitch,” he said. “Because he was supposed to be on the pitch tomorrow. If the referee did his job. Simple as that.”
In the end, two things can be right. Yes, President Trump should have more important things to do than litigating a red card suspension in the World Cup, although he surely enjoyed the ensuing reaction. Notably, news of the appeal appeared to be funneled through Outkick’s Clay Travis and Barstool Sports’s Dave Portnoy, both of whom have been friendly with the Trump administration over the years.
At the same time, let’s not kid ourselves about the shameless hypocrisy of some critics. After all, FIFA suspended punishment for superstar Cristiano Ronaldo after he got a red card during a World Cup qualifier in 2025. So there’s a precedent. If a controversial FIFA decision helped put their country’s best player back on the pitch before a key knockout match, some of these hysterical critics would be waving flags. While they’re at it, spare us the lectures from hypocrites like Blatter about the integrity of the game. FIFA has a well-earned history of bribery and corruption.
Thankfully, Balogun has endured this entire situation with class and sportsmanship. Despite the red card, he shook the referee’s hand, talked about being a role model, and remained optimistic. In the end, Balogun and Team USA are blameless. They’ll go out and play tonight, no matter what FIFA decides. If critics think American fans caught up in World Cup fever give a hoot about “asterisks” or so-called “tainted” victories, they have a lot to learn.
