USMNT Cannot Appeal Balogun’s Red Card; He Must Sit Out Belgium Match

These are the FIFA rules

A FIFA official told The Athletic that a team cannot appeal a red card or a suspension. The official pointed out its regulations and Article 66.4:

“A sending-off automatically incurs suspension from the subsequent match. The FIFA judicial bodies may impose additional match suspensions and other disciplinary measures.”

Balogun could miss even more games. As much as a three-match ban could be handed out if the disciplinary committee decides that Balogun endangered Muharemovic’s safety recklessly.

As for the Round of 16 match, Balogun will face further sanctions. He won’t be able to go anywhere near the team.

According to FIFA rules, he will be allowed to attend the match at Lumen Field, but not on the team bench.

Players serving a suspension “may be allowed to sit in the stands, but not in the immediate vicinity of the field of play,” FIFA rules state.

He also will not be allowed to enter the U.S. locker room, the stadium tunnel or the squad’s technical area “before or during the match, attend the warm-up, or sit on the team bench,” according to the rules.

Balogun became the fifth USMNT player awarded a red card in the World Cup. He joined Eric Wynalda (1990), Fernando Clavijo (1994), and Pablo Mastroeni and Eddie Pope (both 2006).

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Pochettino: It wasn’t a red card

U.S. head coach Mauricio Pochettino claimed the foul wasn’t a red card. During his post-game press conference, he said that there was a lack of intent by Balogun, who stepped on the back of a Bosnia player’s ankle with his cleat while jockeying for position.

“For me? Never a red card,” Pochettino said. “Watching after on TV, never was the intention. That was a normal action in football that happened by accident. It’s never intentional.”

Pochettino was also asked about a similar instance from earlier in the cup when Lionel Messi appeared to have done a similar action in Argentina’s win over Algeria. Messi wasn’t penalized.

“For me, both were not a red card,” the U.S. head coach replied.

Pulisic agrees with Pochettino

Forward Christian Pulisic also came to Balogun’s defense.

“Just watching it now, it sucks,” he said. “It’s just disappointing. I understand a dangerous act in a way, but he’s just trying to put his foot on the ground, and it wasn’t high on his leg.”

Balogun has been the USA’s main scoring threat with three goals in as many matches. He has been a handful and a half to handle and will be difficult to replace.

“We’ll have different options, we’ll see which decision we’ll take,” Pochettino said.

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Who can replace Balogun?

Pochettino’s main options include Ricardo Pepi, who started in place of an injured Christian Pulisic against Australia, or Haji Wright, who scored a goal in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Pepe scored 16 goals for PSV Eindhoven in the Netherlands during the 2025-26 season.

Another possibility would be to move Pulisic to center forward, although the 27-year-old performs much better on the left wing, as he has demonstrated in this competition.

If Pochettino has some other options, including using Brendan Aaronson, who might be better suited coming off the bench in a World Cup, Gio Reyna, who scored off the bench in the 4-1 win over Paraguay in the Group D opener, or Alex Zendejas.