Folarin Balogun’s Red Card, Trump’s FIFA Call, and What the USMNT’s Early Exit Really Means

The USMNT’s World Cup run is over. It ended with a 4-1 thumping by Belgium that wasn’t as close as the score suggests. And the whole thing, start to finish, was a weird trip.

Folarin Balogun started hot. Two goals in the opener against Paraguay. A third in the Round of 32 against Bosnia and Herzegovina. Looked like he might be that guy. Then came the red card in the same Bosnia game, which got him an automatic suspension. FIFA postponed the ban. Balogun played against Belgium. The USMNT got hammered, and the internet was not kind.

A lot of the anger wasn’t at the team’s performance. It was at the decision to let Balogun play at all — a call that came after President Donald Trump reportedly phoned FIFA president Gianni Infantino directly. Whether that call actually changed anything is unclear. But the optics were brutal. USMNT got a favor from the highest office in the land and still laid an egg.

Balogun’s Apology and the Bigger Picture

After the loss, Balogun posted a long message on X. He apologized to fans. Said it wasn’t good enough when it mattered most. But he also looked forward, writing that American soccer is growing and that the best days are ahead.

“Soccer in America will only become bigger. The belief, the talent, and the passion are continually growing, and I know the best days are in front of us,” Balogun wrote. “The future belongs to those who never stop believing. This moment will fuel us. We will be back. Why not us?”

Coach Mauricio Pochettino acknowledged the team lacked focus against Belgium but said he saw positives in the way the group bonded over the tournament. Alexi Lalas, on FOX Sports, called it the team’s worst game at the worst possible time.

Both are kind of right. The USMNT hasn’t reached a World Cup quarterfinal since 2002. That’s a long wait. Balogun is 25. He’ll almost certainly be back in 2030. But four years is a long time in soccer, and this team hasn’t shown it can close the gap when the stakes are highest.

One thing that did come out of this tournament: Balogun established himself as the clear top striker. He’s got the movement, the finishing, the attitude. The red card and the controversy around it will fade. What won’t fade is the memory of that Belgium game. It was ugly. And for now, that’s what this team is — flashes of promise, sometimes brilliant, sometimes just not ready.