UPDATED 2:30pm PT: Folarin Balogun is back in the game as FIFA suspends his red card ahead of Team USA’s Round of 16 match against Belgium.
The USMNT striker is now eligible to compete in Monday’s FIFA World Cup match, set for 5pm PT at Seattle Stadium, following his foul on defender Tarik Muharemovic during Wednesday’s match against Bosnia-Herzegovina in San Francisco.
“By operation of Article 27 FDC, the implementation of the automatic match suspension for USA player Folarin Balogun is suspended for a probationary period of one [1] year,” the FIFA Disciplinary Committee said in a statement.
The reversal comes after Donald Trump called FIFA president Gianni Infantino to ask for a review of Balogun’s suspension on Wednesday, according to The New York Times. “Thank you to FIFA for doing what was right, and reversing a great injustice!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
The Royal Belgian Football Association said they were “astonished” at the reversal, arguing “the decision is in direct contradiction with the provisions of the FIFA World Cup 2026 Competition Regulations.”
Balogun received a red card in the 64th minute of Wednesday’s Round of 32 game, which USMNT won 2-0, including one goal scored by the 25-year-old New Yorker.
With Balogun eligible to join his teammates against Belgium, Team USA is hoping for its first World Cup quarter-final appearance since taking on Germany during Korea/Japan 2002.