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US's Folarin Balogun acknowledged the controversy surrounding the reversal of his ban, saying his team accepted both the original red-card decision and the later decision that allowed him to return to action, adding that he had no personal involvement in the process behind the u-turn.
FIFA has dismissed Belgium's challenge over the eligibility of Folarin Balogun after world football's governing body suspended the United States forward's one-match ban ahead of the FIFA World Cup Round of 16 clash between the two sides. Balogun was shown a red card in the 64th minute of the United States' 2-0 Round of 32 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina. "Of course, it's controversial when the decision is overturned. We accepted the decision when I saw the red card, and we accepted the decision when we were told I could play," Balogun said as per ESPN. "I was not involved in the process. It had nothing to do with me personally," he added. However, Balogun's inclusion did not prevent the U.S. from slipping to a 4-1 defeat to Belgium. Coming to the match, Belgium stormed into the quarter-finals of the FIFA World Cup 2026 with a commanding 4-1 victory over the hosts, the United States, at Seattle Stadium. Charles De Ketelaere starred with a brace to earn the Player of the Match award, while Hans Vanaken scored his first-ever FIFA World Cup goal and substitute Romelu Lukaku added a stoppage-time strike, marking his third consecutive World Cup match with a goal. Belgium dominated much of the contest despite the USA briefly equalising through Malik Tillman's deflected free-kick. A costly goalkeeping error by Matt Freese allowed Belgium to extend their lead before Lukaku sealed the emphatic win late on. The defeat ended the United States' campaign, making them the last of the three co-host nations to exit the tournament after Canada and Mexico. Belgium will next face Spain in the quarter-finals on July 10 after the Spanish side knocked out Portugal in the Round of 16. (ANI)
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