The USMNT's star striker was sent packing and will not be available to play when the team faces Belgium on Monday, July 6
Credit: Alex Pantling – FIFA/FIFA via Getty; John Dorton/USSF/Getty; Jack Thomas/Getty
NEED TO KNOW
- Fans, including pro athletes, were shocked by Folarin Balogun’s red card
- Patrick Mahomes, Jason Kelce and more voiced their outrage on social media
- Balogun was sent off in the 64th minute of the game after officials ruled he intentionally fouled Bosnia’s Tarik Muharemovic
It was the red card heard ‘round the world!
Fans couldn’t believe it when U.S. star striker Folarin Balogun was served a red card in the 64th minute of the round of 32 match against Bosnia and Herzegovina on Wednesday, July 1.
And count many, many professional athletes among the incredulous after Balogun seemingly inadvertently stepped on the ankle of Bosnia’s Tarik Muharemovic.
Balogun, 24, was ejected from the game — leaving the U.S. down to 10 players — and will be suspended for the USMNT’s round of 16 game vs. Belgium on Monday, July 6.
Credit: BENJAMIN FANJOY/EPA/Shutterstock
Among the outraged was Jason Kelce, who asked for clarity in a post on X.
“Man, somebody help me,” the Monday Night Countdown analyst, 38, wrote. “That foul looked incidental from Balogun, shouldn’t a Red Card be given if there is either intention to foul, or an action that is aggressive and unsafe in nature? Didn’t feel like Balogun was out of control or anything, just looked like it kind of happened.”
Kelce’s ESPN colleagues Dan Orlovsky and Pat McAfee concurred.
“You don’t give a card for intentionally pull [sp] Pulisic down before the half, but give a red card for an accidental stomp on ankle,” he questioned. “Absolute dog trash.”
“A RED CARD!?!???” McAfee wrote. “WHATTTTT.”
Patrick Mahomes also questioned the development — “Man what ….” — while fellow NFL quarterback Caleb Williams gave the officiating a thumbs down: “Red card is insane man!”
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Even NBA players past and present weighed in.
“That’s not a red!!!” retired Dallas Mavericks legend Dirk Nowitzki wrote emphatically.
“Bro that’s a red card?!” New York Knicks guard Josh Hart rhetorically asked.
USMNT coach Mauricio Pochettino was also not a fan.
"For me, never is it a red card," Pochettino said during the post-match press conference. "It was a normal action in football that happened by accident. There was never any intention … and that is why, for me, it is never a red card."
A FIFA official said the red card cannot be appealed but that all red cards are “automatically referred to FIFA’s independent disciplinary committee for assessment,” according to The Athletic.
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