SEATTLE—Back in 2023, Folarin Balogun had to make the decision that would define his entire career.
A promising forward who had risen through the ranks of Arsenal’s prestigious youth academy, Balogun was eligible to represent three different teams at the international level.
He could pick England, where he’d grown up; Nigeria, in line with his parents’ heritage; or the country where he was born by a twist of fate in 2001: the United States.
Wooed by the U.S. soccer federation and the prospect of playing a World Cup on home soil, Balogun picked the Stars and Stripes. What he could never have foreseen was that his national team career would some day become a matter of White House concern and international controversy.
Balogun, America’s top scorer at this World Cup, is now playing for the U.S. in Monday’s round-of-16 match against Belgium after an unprecedented series of events that have rocked the soccer world. Balogun was initially suspended for the match because of a red card he had received in the previous round—until that ban was delayed on Sunday by FIFA after lobbying efforts that included President Trump speaking directly with FIFA boss Gianni Infantino .
“I think 99.9% of people agree it was an unfair red card,” U.S. head coach Mauricio Pochettino said.
As it turned out, the only people who needed to be convinced were Trump and FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee, which used an obscure regulation known as Article 27 to exercise its discretion when reviewing sanctions.
For the Americans, it was a critical boost since the U.S. didn’t have an obvious replacement. For the rest of the world, it was viewed as a flagrant violation in order to placate the host nation. Belgium’s soccer federation assailed FIFA’s lack of transparency and said it was “astonished” by the reversal.
Soccer Football – FIFA World Cup 2026 – Round of 16 – United States v Belgium – Seattle Stadium, Seattle, Washington, U.S. – July 6, 2026 U.S. fan holds up a poster of Folarin Balogun outside the stadium before the match IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters/Blake Dahlin
At the center of the entire fracas was the player known as Flo, a 25-year-old American with a pronounced British accent who suddenly became a top priority at the highest levels of the U.S. government.
“I just want to show the fans I made the right decision,” Balogun said after the Americans’ first game here. “And I’m completely proud.”
It took an unusual sequence of events for Balogun to even be in this position. Born to Nigerian parents who lived in London, his mother wound up giving birth to him in Brooklyn after being turned away from her flight home due to her advanced pregnancy.
That surprise made him a U.S. citizen. It also proved to be critical as Balogun began to emerge as a bright young soccer talent. He played for England at the youth level and broke out with the French club Reims in 2022. Around then is also when the U.S. put on the full court press to convince Balogun to represent the red, white and blue instead. And after a recruitment that included time courtside at a New York Knicks-Orlando Magic game, his mind was made up.
“In the end it became a no-brainer,” Balogun said at the time. “It feels like I’m at home here.”
Soccer Football – FIFA World Cup 2026 – Round of 16 – United States v Belgium – Seattle Stadium, Seattle, Washington, U.S. – July 6, 2026 Folarin Balogun of the U.S. looks dejected as he applauds fans after the match following their elimination from the World Cup IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters/Blake Dahlin
As Balogun’s club career took off—he signed for Monaco from Arsenal for a transfer fee of more than $40 million in 2023—he also became a mainstay in the national team’s lineups. For a country that had struggled to develop strikers, Balogun was a long-awaited solution.
That was clearer than ever as the U.S. began its World Cup run. He scored twice in the opener against Paraguay before giving the U.S. the lead in its first knockout game against Bosnia and Herzegovina. Later in the match, though, the referee went to video replay to review an incident in which Balogun stepped on an opponent’s ankle. After a delay, Balogun was shown a red card and the U.S. had to finish the game a man down.
Immediately after the final whistle, U.S. Soccer and FIFA officials explained that the Americans had no recourse to appeal.
Because of that, the U.S. was also preparing to play its match against Belgium without him. For the country to reach its first World Cup quarterfinal since 2002, Pochettino was going to have to figure out how to replace perhaps the team’s most irreplaceable weapon.
But barely 24 hours before the match was set to kick off, Balogun was granted clemency. The rest of the world called foul, with Norway’s coach Stale Solbakken saying it was a “bad, bad, bad, bad, bad decision that will hurt the World Cup.”
Pochettino dismissed the criticism. All he knew was that when “The Star-Spangled Banner” played at Lumen Field on Monday night, Balogun would be wearing a U.S. jersey.
Write to Andrew Beaton at andrew.beaton@wsj.com and Joshua Robinson at Joshua.Robinson@wsj.com
