US striker at centre of Trump FIFA intervention says decision stirred up nerves among team

Wednesday, 15 July 2026

Folarin Balogun says the decision by US President Donald Trump to intervene on his match ban caused “a lot of outside noise” that stirred up “a bit of nerves” among his team ahead of their match against Belgium.

Balogun was shown a red card during the US victory over Bosnia-Herzegovina on July 1, which normally would make him ineligible to play in team's next game, but FIFA lifted his suspension after US President Donald Trump intervened with FIFA President Gianni Infantino on behalf of the 25-year-old striker.

The intervention turned out to mean little however, as the USMNT bowed out of the tournament, losing 4-1.

Speaking to CBS Mornings, Balogun said his initial thoughts were that he was happy to be back in the team.

“…but when I kind of started to reflect, I knew it was going to cause a lot of controversy. And I could almost see within my teammates a bit of nerves. Because it is something that is so unique,” he said.

“The closer we got to the game, I tried to just focus as best as I could, but it was difficult. A lot of outside noise and that’s hard to avoid.”

Folarin Balogun says the decision by US President Donald Trump to intervene on his match ban caused “a lot of outside noise” that stirred up “a bit of nerves” among his team

FIFA’s decision drew condemnation. The Belgian soccer federation said FIFA had not provided key documents for its appeal, and Norway's federation said the lack of legal explanation from FIFA was “reason for concern regarding the integrity of the competition.”

The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) said in a statement that a minimum automatic suspension of one match following a red card is not a discretionary option and does not require the decision of a competent body to be enacted.

'It is not something I think was too difficult to be able to separate once we kind of got over the initial announcement that I would be back on the team,' Balogun told CBS.

'I think you saw, definitely, it was a difficult game against Belgium, and that can kind of overshadow whether we were focused on not. But … I know we had full concentration going into the game.'

Balogun's three goals in this years World Cup matched Landon Donovan in 2010 for the second most by an American in a World Cup.