FIFA wipes Balogun red card to hand USA striker World Cup reprieve against Belgium

FIFA has wiped Folarin Balogun’s one-match suspension, clearing the USA forward to play against Belgium in the World Cup round of 16 in Seattle on Monday. The governing body invoked Article 27 of its disciplinary code to “suspend” the ban stemming from Balogun’s red card against Bosnia and Herzegovina, delivering a significant boost to co-hosts United States.

The decision is a remarkable intervention given that there was no formal appeal route available to US officials under FIFA’s existing regulations — the presence of VAR having closed off that avenue entirely. Article 27 allows a judicial body to “fully or partially suspend the implementation of a disciplinary measure,” though it carries a caveat: if Balogun commits another infringement of similar nature and gravity during the probationary period, the suspension will be reinstated and the original sanction enforced.

The ruling has a recent precedent. Cristiano Ronaldo had the latter two games of a three-match ban in World Cup qualifying suspended in a similar fashion, making the Portugal captain available from the start of this tournament.

Another factor reportedly weighing on FIFA’s deliberations was the non-awarding of a red card to Lionel Messi for a comparable tackle during Argentina’s win against Algeria — an inconsistency that drew attention to the severity of the decision against Balogun.

USA head coach Mauricio Pochettino had been vocal in his criticism of the original dismissal after the 2-0 victory over Bosnia, a match in which Balogun scored. Pochettino argued the incident — in which Balogun scraped his studs down the calf of defender Tarik Muharemovic — was “never a red card” and maintained the contact was “not intentional.”

With Balogun now available, Pochettino has his first-choice striker at his disposal for what is the United States’ most consequential World Cup knockout fixture in years.