{"id":3842,"date":"2026-07-06T16:13:20","date_gmt":"2026-07-06T16:13:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=3842"},"modified":"2026-07-06T16:13:20","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T16:13:20","slug":"belgium-freaks-out-after-fifa-lets-us-striker-folarin-balogun-play-in-world-cup-knockout-match-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=3842","title":{"rendered":"Belgium freaks out after FIFA lets US striker Folarin Balogun play in World Cup knockout match"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

WASHINGTON \u2014\u00a0The Belgians aren\u2019t waffling about this.<\/p>\n

The Brussels government blasted international soccer\u2019s governing body FIFA Monday after it cleared the way for star US striker Folarin Balogun to face Belgium in the World Cup\u2019s round of 16.<\/p>\n

Read more Belgium freaks out after FIFA lets US striker Folarin Balogun play in World Cup knockout match<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cAs a former football referee, I have always been committed to upholding the rules and ensuring decisions are fair. This decision clearly raises many questions,\u201d Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Pr\u00e9vot fumed to Politico.<\/p>\n

Brooklyn-born Balogun received a red card in the second half of the 2-0 US victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina in the round of 32 July 1, a sanction that typically carries a one-match ban. <\/p>\n

However, US Soccer maintained that Brazilian referee Raphael Claus and the video assistant referee, Juan Soto of Veneuzela, improperly applied replay protocols to punish Balogun.<\/p>\n

The controversy even reached President Trump, who called FIFA boss Gianni Infantino for an explanation of Balogun\u2019s penalty.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, FIFA announced that Balogun\u2019s one-match ban had been suspended for one year, freeing the striker to play in Monday night\u2019s game in Seattle.<\/p>\n

The rare disciplinary decision boosted the US, who would reach the quarterfinals of the world\u2019s biggest sporting event for the first time since 2002 with a win.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it really was a phone call [by Trump] that led to this\u00a0incomprehensible decision, that would amount to undermining the most basic rules of football and sport,\u201d added Prevot.<\/p>\n

Read more Trump says he asked FIFA for review of Folarin Balogun red card: \u2018I didn\u2019t think it was a foul\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

Early Monday, the Royal Belgian Football Association confirmed it was appealing FIFA\u2019s decision, saying it had \u201cno alternative.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRegardless of the sporting outcome of this match, the RBFA is deeply concerned by the course of events and will continue to fight in the coming hours, days and months in defence of the fundamental principles of ethics, fair competition, and the interests of football as a whole,\u201d the group said in a statement.<\/p>\n

The appeal will be heard by a FIFA member who does not represent a country in either the European or North American, Central American and Caribbean soccer federations \u2014 with no guarantee the issue will be settled before kickoff. <\/p>\n

Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever took a more whimsical approach to the controversy, posting an image of his cat saying in a cartoon bubble: \u201cRed card? I\u2019ll play anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Belgium\u2019s coach Rudi Garcia joked during a press conference Sunday in response to the ruling: \u201cI didn\u2019t know that July 5 here is the same as April 1 in Europe. That\u2019s new to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

While rare, a FIFA decision to suspend a red card ban is not unpredecented. <\/p>\n

Most notably, Portugal star Cristiano Ronaldo had two matches on his three-match ban suspended after he was sent off for elbowing Ireland\u2019s Dara O\u2019Shea during a qualifying match in November, freeing him up to play all of his country\u2019s group games.<\/p>\n

Read more Some Americans are getting a COVID tax refund \u2014 here\u2019s who is eligible and how much they\u2019ll get<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Brussels blasted international soccer’s governing body FIFA Monday after it cleared the way for star US striker Folarin Balogun to face Belgium in the World Cup’s round of 16.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3840,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[76],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3842","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-soccer"],"yoast_head":"\nBelgium freaks out after FIFA lets US striker Folarin Balogun play in World Cup knockout match - Metro Transit Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=3842\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Belgium freaks out after FIFA lets US striker Folarin Balogun play in World Cup knockout match - Metro Transit Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Brussels blasted international soccer's governing body FIFA Monday after it cleared the way for star US striker Folarin Balogun to face Belgium in the World Cup's round of 16.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=3842\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Metro Transit Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-06T16:13:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=3842#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=3842\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14\"},\"headline\":\"Belgium freaks out after FIFA lets US striker Folarin Balogun play in World Cup knockout match\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-06T16:13:20+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=3842\"},\"wordCount\":546,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=3842#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/ccad8bba0a70a377837b0fde330b8353.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Soccer\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=3842#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=3842\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=3842\",\"name\":\"Belgium freaks out after FIFA lets US striker Folarin Balogun play in World Cup knockout match - Metro Transit Review\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=3842#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=3842#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/ccad8bba0a70a377837b0fde330b8353.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-06T16:13:20+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=3842#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=3842\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=3842#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/ccad8bba0a70a377837b0fde330b8353.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/ccad8bba0a70a377837b0fde330b8353.webp\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":799},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=3842#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Belgium freaks out after FIFA lets US striker Folarin Balogun play in World Cup knockout match\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Metro Transit Review\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Belgium freaks out after FIFA lets US striker Folarin Balogun play in World Cup knockout match - Metro Transit Review","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=3842","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Belgium freaks out after FIFA lets US striker Folarin Balogun play in World Cup knockout match - Metro Transit Review","og_description":"Brussels blasted international soccer's governing body FIFA Monday after it cleared the way for star US striker Folarin Balogun to face Belgium in the World Cup's round of 16.","og_url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=3842","og_site_name":"Metro Transit Review","article_published_time":"2026-07-06T16:13:20+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=3842#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=3842"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14"},"headline":"Belgium freaks out after FIFA lets US striker Folarin Balogun play in World Cup knockout match","datePublished":"2026-07-06T16:13:20+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=3842"},"wordCount":546,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=3842#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ccad8bba0a70a377837b0fde330b8353.webp","articleSection":["Soccer"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=3842#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=3842","url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=3842","name":"Belgium freaks out after FIFA lets US striker Folarin Balogun play in World Cup knockout match - Metro Transit Review","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=3842#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=3842#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ccad8bba0a70a377837b0fde330b8353.webp","datePublished":"2026-07-06T16:13:20+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=3842#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=3842"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=3842#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ccad8bba0a70a377837b0fde330b8353.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ccad8bba0a70a377837b0fde330b8353.webp","width":1200,"height":799},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=3842#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Belgium freaks out after FIFA lets US striker Folarin Balogun play in World Cup knockout match"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/","name":"Metro Transit Review","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/metrotransitreview.com"],"url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3842","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3842"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3842\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3842"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3842"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3842"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}