Folarin Balogun, the leading scorer for the United States men's national team, received a controversial red card during the World Cup Round of 32 match against Bosnia-Herzegovina. The incident occurred in the 64th minute after a VAR review, where Brazilian referee Raphael Claus deemed Balogun's step on Tarik Muharemovic's ankle as serious foul play. This decision sparked outrage among U.S. players and coaching staff, who argued it was unintentional.
The red card means Balogun will face an automatic one-game suspension, missing the Round of 16 match against Belgium, as there is no appeal process for this type of red card unless FIFA assesses a penalty of more than one game. U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino vehemently disagreed with the call, stating it was "never a red card" and an "accidental" action. Teammates Christian Pulisic and Weston McKennie also called the decision "harsh," "ridiculous," and "bogus."
Despite playing with ten men for the final 25 minutes, the U.S. secured a 2-0 victory with a second goal from Malik Tillman in the 81st minute. Balogun's red card overshadowed his earlier achievement of scoring the opening goal in the 45th minute, his third of the tournament, matching Landon Donovan's 2010 record for American World Cup goals. This incident marks only the fifth red card for a U.S. player in World Cup history and places Balogun in the company of Ronaldinho and Zinedine Zidane as players who have scored and been sent off in a knockout game.
Pundits and former officials, like Mark Clattenburg, a former Premier League referee, criticized the decision, arguing it lacked force and aggression and looked worse in slow motion. The controversial call leaves the U.S. team to potentially rely on Ricardo Pepi or Haji Wright for their crucial match against Belgium without their top scorer.
