FIFA Got It Right: Folarin Balogun Never Should Have Missed USA vs. Belgium

Social media in America is doing what social media in America does best: screaming first and thinking later.

The newest outrage is that Folarin Balogun, the United States’ best attacking player in this World Cup, will be allowed to play against Belgium after FIFA suspended his automatic one-match ban. Critics are furious because President Donald Trump reportedly contacted FIFA President Gianni Infantino and asked for the red card to be reviewed. That has turned this into a political firestorm instead of what it should be: a soccer decision.

And on the soccer side of it, FIFA got the call right.

Balogun never should have been sent off against Bosnia and Herzegovina. The play was hard, physical, and unfortunate, but it was not the kind of malicious challenge that should knock a country’s best striker out of a World Cup knockout match. The United States already paid a price by playing the final stretch of that game with 10 men. Turning a bad call on a red card into a suspension for the biggest match in modern U.S. soccer history would have only compounded the mistake.

That is the part being ignored by the outrage machine.

People are not really arguing about the tackle anymore. They are arguing about Trump. They are arguing about FIFA politics. They are arguing because it gives them another reason to complain. But the actual question should be simple: did Balogun deserve to miss the Belgium game?

The answer is no.

FIFA did not erase the red card entirely. It suspended the enforcement of the one-match ban on probation, which means Balogun is still under disciplinary warning. According to reports, FIFA used Article 27 of its disciplinary code to make the decision. Belgium is understandably upset, UEFA has criticized the ruling, and critics are calling it unprecedented. But being unusual does not automatically make it wrong.

Soccer fans always claim they want justice. They want VAR to fix obvious mistakes. They want disciplinary panels to correct unfair decisions. They want the best players available when a call is too harsh. But when it benefits the United States, suddenly everyone becomes a rules absolutist.

That is ridiculous.

If this had happened to a European power, the same people melting down online would probably call it common sense. They would say the tournament should not be decided by an overzealous referee. They would say fans deserve to see the best players on the field. They would say knockout games should be settled by talent, tactics, and execution, not by a questionable red card from the previous round.

But because it is the United States, and because Trump is involved, the reaction has become completely detached from the actual play. The sad part is how many supposed Americans are upset by this decision, Sportswriters, Politicians, Actors, you know all the normal leftist communists against this Country because they don’t like Trump. I am no fan of Trump either, but I know a bad call when I see it and I want those calls overturned, if possible, to get the fairest possible outcome.

Balogun has been one of the biggest reasons the United States is still alive. He leads the American attack, gives the team pace, finishing, and confidence, and changes the way opponents have to defend. Losing him against Belgium would have been a massive blow, not because he escaped punishment, but because the punishment never fit the play in the first place.

Belgium has the right to complain. Opponents always want every advantage they can get. UEFA has the right to question FIFA’s process. Transparency matters. FIFA should explain exactly why this case met the standard for relief.

But none of that changes the central truth.

The original red card was too harsh. The suspension would have been too harsh. Correcting a bad decision is not corruption simply because people dislike who made the phone call.

The World Cup should be about the best players deciding the biggest games. USA vs. Belgium is better with Folarin Balogun on the field. More importantly, it is fairer with him on the field.

Social media can rage all it wants. FIFA got this one right.