Folarin Balogun had a night he won’t forget. Neither will anyone who watched it.
The U.S. men’s national team striker scored just before halftime against Bosnia and Herzegovina to put the hosts up 1-0 and punch their ticket to the World Cup knockout round. Then, 19 minutes into the second half, he was gone. A straight red card after a VAR review deemed his challenge on Tarik Muharemovic reckless enough to end his night early.
That combo — a goal and a red card in the same World Cup match — is rare. Like, properly rare.
A very short list
Balogun is now the seventh player in World Cup history to pull off that particular double. The list reads like a trivia question you’d only get right if you were born in the 1960s or happened to watch a lot of 2002 group stage soccer.
Zinedine Zidane is the most famous name on it. He scored a Panenka penalty in the 2006 final and then headbutted Marco Materazzi in extra time. That’s the kind of exit that gets a statue and a meme in equal measure.
Vincent Aboubakar was the most recent before Balogun. The Cameroon striker scored a stoppage-time winner against Brazil in 2022, then ripped off his shirt and picked up a second yellow for the celebration. He went from hero to ban in about 15 seconds.
Ronaldinho made the list in 2002 after scoring that free kick against England that still gets replayed every World Cup. He got sent off later for a tackle on David Beckham that was, let’s say, not gentle.
The other three are Garrincha (1962), South Korea’s Ha Seok-ju (1998) and Senegal’s Salif Diao (2002). That’s it. Seven guys across decades of World Cup soccer.
What this means for the USMNT
Balogun will miss the round of 16 game. That’s the downside. The upside is the U.S. is through to the knockout stage as hosts, and Balogun has three goals in the tournament so far. He’s been their most dangerous attacker by a decent margin.
The red card won’t get overturned. VAR looked at it, the referee made the call, and that’s that. The USMNT will have to figure out how to score without him next match.
But for one night, Balogun did something only six other players in World Cup history can say they’ve done. He scored. He got sent off. And he ended up in a very weird club nobody sets out to join.
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