FIFA has turned the Folarin Balogun suspension saga into a clown show with no winners, not even the USMNT

We all have that memory as a child. The one where one little innocent lie blew up into a massive hullaballoo, where it just kept snowballing until finally you had nowhere to hide, and the trouble you ended up in was so much worse than if you had just admitted guilt to begin with.

That is exactly what has happened with FIFA in the Folarin Balogun suspension case.

The U.S. striker was, by most accounts, wrongly sent off for serious foul play on the hour mark of their 2-0 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Round of 32. It’s not the first time a referee has made a poor decision, and it certainly won’t be the last.

It would have left Balogun suspended for the following game: their upcoming Round of 16 match against Belgium, one in which the two teams are believed to be evenly matched. Balogun’s absence would surely be felt.

FIFA could have left it there. An injustice, sure, but one that is somewhat commonplace in sport. It would have been a subplot to the game, but not the overarching narrative. A potential excuse after a possible defeat, maybe, but the U.S. has the players to make up for it.

Then, the snowball began rolling down the hill.

Without an appeal process — as most competitions feature — written into the World Cup regulations, FIFA had to get creative. Well… it didn’t have to, but it decided to, after a phone call from U.S. president and Gianni Infantino’s buddy Donald Trump that has muddied the whole situation even further.

FIFA’s supposedly independent disciplinary committee decided to suspend Balogun’s one-game ban, essentially giving him probation. Instead of publishing the justification for this decision, no matter how farcical, FIFA simply cited Article 27 of its disciplinary regulations. In simple terms, this rule states that FIFA’s judicial body can fully or partially suspended a disciplinary punishment, without necessarily needing to say why.

The committee or FIFA could have said anything — literally, anything. That’s what they did after suspending two of the three matches Cristiano Ronaldo was banned for heading into the World Cup, laughably claiming his red-card suspension for violent conduct in a World Cup qualifier was reduced for a lack of prior infringement. According to the BBC, Ronaldo’s clean disciplinary record throughout his 225 international appearances was the reason for the leniency. A farcical excuse, but a reason nonetheless.

This time, no reasoning has been given, at all. No official statement, no sources, no leaks. The overarching theory is that the FIFA disciplinary committee pointed to the failure of VAR official Juan Soto to adhere to VAR protocols, leaning too heavily on slow-motion replay and still images instead of full-speed video. Yet without confirmation of this in some manner, it has created a void that has been filled by rampant speculation and questions about integrity.

FIFA could have left it there. By this point, the story had become a household topic of discussion, as reports of phone calls from Trump to FIFA president Infantino began to surface (Trump later confirmed he had made a call to ask for a review). Fellow World Cup coaches began to weigh in with criticisms of the decision, including Norway’s Stale Solbakken and England’s Thomas Tuchel. UEFA slammed FIFA for an «unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable» decision (having been curiously quiet when Ronaldo’s ban was suspended back in November), while the Belgian FA said publicly it was «astonished» by the decision and would consider its options.

But FIFA still could have stopped digging, a sort of «too bad, this is our decision, deal with it» sort of conclusion.

Yet the snowball continued to roll, growing exponentially. It was revealed early Monday morning that FIFA would allow the Belgian FA to appeal against the decision. An already unprecedented World Cup adjudication was getting even more convoluted, as an independent regulatory commission would hear arguments of both sides, with the game to be played that evening.

Almost immediately, the Belgian FA felt it was fishy, claiming that FIFA had set up the appeal process when it had not actually asked for it. «While the RBFA was merely seeking legitimate explanations, FIFA itself created an appeal and immediately ensured that it would be declared inadmissible,» it said.

At this point, the story — now irreversible in size, scope, and shame — has become an international incident, one with no winners and all losers.

Somehow, incredibly, the USMNT may be the most aggrieved party out of this whole farce. Mauricio Pochettino’s side at first believed they were simply the beneficiary of justice served for an earlier error. Now, they must wait until hours before the match to know if their starting striker is available, with Pochettino essentially forced to prepare two game plans for either outcome.

Beyond just the sporting consequences of this mockery is emotional harm. What has been a magical run from the 2026 World Cup host nation has been sapped almost entirely of its charm, replaced by questions of unprecedented favoritism and icky vibes of backroom deals. A potential Round of 16 victory that had promised to lift the sport of soccer to unparalleled heights in this country now threatens to be dismissed as a joke regardless of the result.

The whole thing has become one massive distraction from a game that should have been the scene of immeasurable fanfare. At this point, no plausible outcome will benefit anyone involved.

Of course, there are other victims of this. Belgium have no idea what to prepare for tonight, having been dragged into this mess as an innocent bystander. Balogun himself, too, has been caught in the middle of this, having done nothing to deserve being cast into the heart of a global scandal. The game as a whole has been thrown into disrepute, as the global governing body continues to make attempts to placate all parties but ultimately soothing — or serving — nobody.

Indeed, FIFA is now in over its head. France have appealed to the governing body in the hopes of having Michael Olise’s yellow card rescinded, and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer reportedly intervened to prevent Sunday’s Round of 16 game between Mexico and England from being moved to earlier in the day. Trump’s media appearance on Monday morning confirming he spoke to Infantino has also made things worse for FIFA as he essentially admitted to government interference, or at least lobbying, during the World Cup. FIFA has historically opposed political leaders from intervening in international soccer with litigious vigor.

The football at the 2026 FIFA World Cup has been brilliant. Every game has featured storylines, narratives, and thrilling action to prop up the matches as best as humanly possible. And yet still, FIFA has managed to cast a dark cloud over the competition by extending this saga to unreasonable lengths.

As the snowball swells to unmanageable size, this kind of scenario is usually reserved for children who must learn valuable life lessons as they grow and understand the world around them. Yet here we are, the world’s most popular sport forced to reckon with the exceedingly uncomfortable reality that they’ve taken it too far.

FIFA has turned the Folarin Balogun suspension saga into a clown show with no winners, not even the USMNT

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