America’s star soccer player Folarin Balogun went from World Cup hero to a man watching from the locker room in the span of 20 minutes Wednesday night — and soccer fans everywhere are still arguing about whether it was even his fault.
The Brooklyn-born, London-raised striker had just given the United States a 1-0 lead right before halftime, banging home his third goal of the tournament and looking every bit the breakout star this team desperately needed. Then came the gut-punch: in the second half, referee Raphael Claus was sent to the sideline monitor after a VAR review flagged Balogun’s follow-through on Bosnian defender Tarik Muharemovic when the American star’s cleats caught Muharemovic’s ankle.
The review resulted in a red card.
Balogun barely reacted at first — he looked like a guy who genuinely didn’t know what hit him. And plenty of experts think he had every right to be confused.
More angles of the red card shown to Balogun and the US 🟥 pic.twitter.com/Rh4zjoJTHI
— FOX Sports (@FOXSports) July 2, 2026
FOLARIN BALOGUN SEES RED FOR SERIOUS FOUL PLAY 🟥
He will miss the USMNT's next match if they were to advance 🫠 pic.twitter.com/53yiGdM5TH
— Golazo America (@GolazoAmerica) July 2, 2026
Former referee Andy Davies, who has over 12 seasons of experience working across the Premier League and Championship, didn’t hold back, arguing the ejection was not a red-card offense and calling the contact purely accidental — just two players tangling for the ball, the kind of thing that happens a thousand times a match. Davies went further, suggesting VAR officials leaned too heavily on slow-motion replays that made a routine coming-together look far more sinister than it was.
U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino fumed postgame, insisting there was zero intent to hurt anyone and comparing it to a nearly identical, uncarded incident involving Argentina star Lionel Messi earlier in the tournament. Midfielder Weston McKennie piled on too, griping that similar plays had gone unpunished all tournament long and blasting the fact that the United States couldn’t even appeal the call.
Now, Balogun is forced to sit out the team’s round of 16 match against Belgium. FIFA rules mean a red card automatically triggers a one-match ban — no appeals process, no second chances.
Pochettino will have to figure out life without his hottest scorer for the biggest game in a generation, likely leaning on Ricardo Pepi, Haji Wright or Christian Pulisic to fill the void.
Fair or foul, the red card is official — and the Americans will have to defeat Belgium without their best weapon.
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