Europeans have been claiming that FIFA gave the United States special treatment after the organization cleared USMNT star player Folarin Balogun to compete in Monday night’s Round of 16 match against Belgium following a highly questionable red card at the 2026 World Cup.
As Breitbart News reported on Sunday, FIFA “rescinded the red card given this week to star U.S. striker Folarin Balogun, making him eligible to play against Monday night in the U.S. men’s Round of 16 game against Belgium.”
Balogun, who plays his club ball for Arsenal in the English Premier League, scored the game-winning goal for the USMNT against Bosnia and Herzegovina, but was shown a red card later in the match on a highly controversial play in which he inadvertently stepped on the ankle of a Bosnia and Herzegovina player.
The referee, Brazilian Rafael Claus, conducted a VAR review of the play, which did not even draw a yellow card during live action. While the announcers debated whether the play was even serious enough to review at all, Claus emerged from the VAR viewing area after a lengthy review and shocked the thousands in attendance and better than 30 million watching from home, by showing Balogun a straight red card.
According to The Athletic, part of FIFA’s disciplinary code states that “the judicial body may decide to fully or partially suspend the implementation of a disciplinary measure.”
“If the person benefiting from a suspended sanction commits another infringement of a similar nature and gravity during the probationary period, the suspension shall be revoked by the judicial body and the sanction enforced without prejudice to any additional sanction imposed for the new infringement,” the rule added.
The Royal Belgian Football Association released a strongly-worded statement against FIFA’s ruling.
“In order to safeguard the legitimate rights of all participating teams and to protect the fundamental principles of fair play in our sport, both at this FIFA World Cup and at future editions of the tournament, the RBFA is investigating all potential options,” the statement said.
Europeans and just general U.S. haters also raged online, claiming that FIFA caved to pressure from President Trump to rescind the decision, ignoring the fact that FIFA made a similar ruling for Portugal star Cristiano Ronaldo and the fact that Argentina superstar Lionel Messi avoided a red card during his match against Algeria despite a blatant penalty.
Defenders of the decision immediately fired back against critics by noting that FIFA allowed Portugal star Cristiano Ronaldo to compete in the qualifying rounds despite a two-game suspension.
Defenders also highlighted that Argentina superstar Lionel Messi avoided a blatant red card during his team’s match against Algeria.