SEATTLE: United States striker Folarin Balogun will be available for their World Cup last-16 clash with Belgium despite being sent off for a straight red card in their win over Bosnia in the previous round, FIFA said on Sunday.

Balogun scored his third goal of the World Cup in the 2-0 win but was shown a red card in the second half for planting his boot into the ankle of Bosnia’s Tarik Muharemovic, leaving the US to navigate the remainder of the game a man down.

The 25-year-old was sent off after a VAR review, with US coach Mauricio Pochettino saying it was never a red card.

” ... the implementation of the match suspension is suspended for a probationary period of one year,” FIFA said in a statement.

“If Folarin Balogun commits another infringement of a similar nature and gravity during the probationary period, the suspension shall be revoked and the sanction enforced without prejudice to any additional sanction imposed for the new infringement.”

The judicial body has the discretion to fully or partially suspend the implementation of a disciplinary sanction.

“Thank you to FIFA for doing what was right, and reversing a great injustice,” US President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social.

US Soccer accepted the decision. “(We) are pleased that Folarin Balogun is eligible to compete tomorrow,” it said in a statement.

Balogun’s team-mates said they only found out via social media on their way to training.

“We found out about it just coming over here,” American forward Christian Pulisic told reporters. “At first, you’re like, ‘Oh really, is this real?’ And then ‘Oh, this is great news’.”

The Belgium team did not immediately comment on Balogun being available for the game in Seattle, which will bring about a different kind of Monday Night Football, with an American side carrying rising expectations into a meeting with one of Europe’s most experienced teams.

The match at the Seattle Seahawks’ home stadium is expected to provide a raucous backdrop for a US team whose tournament ambitions have grown with each performance.US defender Sergino Dest said they are aiming to use that energy in front of a full house in Seattle for what he accepted could be the biggest game in the country’s football history so far.

Before the World Cup, many US supporters viewed a place in the last 16 as a reasonable target.

However, wins over Paraguay and Australia in the group stage, followed by a 2-0 victory over Bosnia despite playing the final 36 minutes with 10 men, have raised hopes that Pochettino’s side can make a deeper run on home soil.

Belgium, by contrast, have yet to fully convince.

The European side needed a late escape against Senegal, trailing for the majority of the match before scoring twice to level and then advancing after a VAR-assisted penalty decision in extra time that left Senegal frustrated.

For Belgium, the tournament may represent the final World Cup act for the country’s so-called “Gol­den Generation,” led by Kevin De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku and Thibaut Courtois.

Published in Dawn, July 6th, 2026