Belgium has been handed a shot at reversing FIFA’s stunning decision to clear Folarin Balogun, with an appeal now racing the clock toward Monday’s 5 p.m. PT (8 p.m. ET) kickoff in Seattle.
The Royal Belgian Football Association is claiming the FIFA process is rigged in the host nation’s favor, and with hours left before Team USA and Belgium take to the pitch, nobody outside FIFA’s disciplinary offices knows how this ends.
The Red Card Reversal That Shocked Belgium
Balogun scored the opener in the U.S. men’s national team’s 2-0 round of 32 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina, then watched his night end early. In the 64th minute, referee Raphael Claus was summoned to the monitor and issued a straight red after Balogun stepped on the ankle of Bosnia and Herzegovina defender Tarik MuharemoviÄ. Under standard FIFA procedure, that card should have kept him out of the Belgium match automatically with a mandatory one-game suspension, no appeal allowed.
In a stunning reversal, however, on Sunday FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee announced it was invoking Article 27 of its own disciplinary code, a rarely used clause letting the body suspend a sanction on probation rather than enforce it. In other words, Balogun’s suspension was, itself, suspended. The USA star was cleared to play, and FIFA has suspended the red card for a full year, meaning any similar foul during that window would trigger the original ban plus whatever new penalty follows.
The timing raised eyebrows well beyond Brussels. United States President Donald Trump had reportedly phoned FIFA President Gianni Infantino pushing for a review, and he wasted no time claiming credit once the reversal landed. “Thank you to FIFA for doing what was right, and reversing a great injustice!” Trump wrote on his social media platform, USA Today reported.
Belgium’s Appeal and What Monday’s Match Means
The RBFA didn’t take the news quietly. The federation says FIFA’s move contradicts its own written rules on automatic suspensions, and it fired off a letter demanding the disciplinary panel’s reasoning before kickoff. FIFA responded by treating that letter as a formal appeal request and assigned a neutral judge from outside UEFA or CONCACAF to rule on it, according to Yahoo Sports. Both federations were told to file submissions by 5 a.m. PT Monday, with no promise a ruling would arrive before the opening whistle.
“I didn’t know that at the World Cup July 5 is actually the first of April,” a frustrated Belgium coach Rudi Garcia said, as quoted by Yahoo!. “It’s April Fools.”
Team USA head coach Mauricio Pochettino has argued his club already paid for the red card by finishing the Bosnia and Herzegovina match a man down, and midfielder Weston McKennie called the original no-appeal setup “a bit bogus” given the stakes of a knockout round. U.S. Soccer struck a measured tone in its own statement.
“We accept the decision of the Disciplinary Committee and are pleased that Folarin Balogun is eligible to compete tomorrow,” the federation said, as quoted by NBC News.
Balogun remains Team USA’s top scorer through the knockout stage. FIFA has not said publicly whether a ruling will surface before the teams walk out in Seattle, leaving both benches to prepare for a match that might still change shape at the last possible minute.
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