Balogun sent off in controversial World Cup win for USMNT

Folarin Balogun scored for the United States and later left the field with a straight red card after a VAR review, turning a 2-0 World Cup knockout win over Bosnia and Herzegovina into a disciplinary flashpoint.

The sequence unfolded at San Francisco Bay Area Stadium in the Round of 32, where Balogun put the U.S. ahead just before halftime with his third goal of the tournament. Later in the second half, officials reviewed a challenge on Bosnia defender Tarik Muharemovic and dismissed Balogun, forcing the United States to see out the match with 10 men.

That dismissal matters because it carries over. Balogun will miss the Round of 16 against Belgium on July 6 in Seattle, a loss that lands in the most unforgiving part of the bracket. In a knockout tournament, one straight red card does not just end a player’s night; it removes a key attacker from the next match and changes how a coach manages the entire game plan.

The controversy centers on whether the contact rose to the level of serious foul play. The replay showed Balogun dragging his cleats down the back of Muharemovic’s leg and onto his foot, the kind of tackle referees can judge as dangerous if they believe the force or follow-through endangered an opponent’s safety. That is the line officials were asked to draw after the VAR check, and the dismissal shows they concluded the challenge crossed it.

Mauricio Pochettino, appointed U.S. men’s national team head coach in August 2024, publicly defended Balogun and rejected the red-card decision. Balogun, a 24-year-old forward for AS Monaco born July 3, 2001, entered the tournament as one of the team’s central attackers, and the suspension removes one of the U.S. side’s most productive finishers at a critical moment.

The rarity of the moment only sharpened the debate. MLSsoccer said Balogun became only the fourth player ever to score and receive a red card in a World Cup knockout match, a list that reaches back to Zinedine Zidane’s 2006 final headbutt of Marco Materazzi. FIFA’s match report still recorded the result as a U.S. victory and a place in the Round of 16, but the red card ensured the win came with a cost that stretches into the next round.