{"id":3543,"date":"2026-07-02T05:09:31","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T05:09:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3543"},"modified":"2026-07-02T05:09:31","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T05:09:31","slug":"folarin-baloguns-world-cup-red-card-pochettino-u-s-stars-weigh-in-on-var-decision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3543","title":{"rendered":"Folarin Balogun\u2019s World Cup red card: Pochettino, U.S. stars weigh in on VAR decision"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

SANTA CLARA \u2014 Folarin Balogun had an eventful Wednesday night at Levi\u2019s Stadium.<\/span><\/p>\n

He ignited the heavily pro-American sellout crowd with his goal in the 45th minute, an opportunistic deflected shot off a defensive misplay from Bosnia and Herzegovina that got the Americans on the board right before the half.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more The Domes, San Jose\u2019s newest entertainment venue, is a real mind trip<\/a><\/p>\n

Then midway through the second half of the Americans\u2019 2-0 win, his cleat dug into the right ankle of Bosnia\u2019s Tarik Muharemovic, sending him off for the rest of the game after a video assistant referee review deemed his action a \u201cserious foul\u201d worthy of a red card.<\/span><\/p>\n

The foul did not receive even a yellow card on the field prior to the video room instituting a review.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So, off Balogun went to the locker room, taking the long, solitary walk to decompress and watch the final minutes with no control over the outcome.<\/span><\/p>\n

The call did not just affect Wednesday\u2019s game, either. The red card carries an automatic suspension for the following match, which will keep Balogun out of the United States\u2019 match Monday against Belgium in the round of 16.<\/span><\/p>\n

U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino did not know after the game whether the Americans could appeal the suspension but appeared ready to exhaust the possible avenues to challenge it. He was then told that it was not possible to do so.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, never a red card,\u201d Pochettino said. \u201cWe were watching on TV after. It never was the intention to step on the player. That was a normal action in football that happened by accident, and it\u2019s never intentional.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Balogun\u2019s teammates tried to pick him up after the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe told him after \u2013 not just me \u2013 it\u2019s not anything he\u2019s done wrong,\u201d defender and captain Tim Ream said. \u201cWe have each other\u2019s back. It\u2019s a shame but at the same time we told him we have another game and will try to get another win so he has another game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Christian Pulisic said the decision \u201cseems so harsh,\u201d adding, \u201cfor him to miss the next game, it\u2019s ridiculous for something like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Santa Clara County moves to fire 4 child welfare workers after toddler\u2019s death in relative foster home<\/a><\/p>\n

The Court of Arbitration for Sport does have an appeal process for multiple-game suspensions, though. A suspension for a red-card foul has only been overturned a small number of times historically. One notable example came in 2024, when Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes\u2019 red card was overturned by the Football Association of England.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

That change negated a three-game suspension. Balogun is expected to only miss the United States\u2019 next game, but that could be their only remaining World Cup match.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s disappointed,\u201d Pochettino said of Balogun. \u201cHe\u2019s very disappointed, because I think this was an action that wasn\u2019t intentional. And he\u2019s sad, and also he\u2019s happy, because we qualified. But disappointed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s difficult to do nothing. We cannot do anything to change that feeling. But he for sure is going to help us to perform, and hope that we can go win the next one and be able to play again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Argentina\u2019s Lionel Messi committed a similar offense in group play against Algeria that was not called a red card, a comparison former U.S. players Taylor Twellman and Jermaine Jones, as well as many others, made on social media in the immediate aftermath.<\/span><\/p>\n

Balogun did not speak to reporters after the game due to FIFA red card regulations. It undoubtedly helped the postgame mood that despite going down to 10 men, the U.S. held the line and then went up two goals on Malik Tillman\u2019s gorgeous bending free kick that elevated and then dipped with topspin over the Bosnian wall in the 82nd minute.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a great player,\u201d Tillman said of Balogun. \u201cHe\u2019s our top star so far. Of course, we\u2019re going to miss him, but I think we have great players who can replace him and do the best they can, and hopefully score some goals for us as well.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more After Pacifica Pier closure, Liccardo bill aims to fund disaster prevention before damage is done<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

United States coach Mauricio Pochettino and American players reacted to Folarin Balogun’s red card after win over Bosnia & Herzegovina, which will also affect next match<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3542,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3543","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\nFolarin Balogun\u2019s World Cup red card: Pochettino, U.S. stars weigh in on VAR decision - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3543\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Folarin Balogun\u2019s World Cup red card: Pochettino, U.S. stars weigh in on VAR decision - Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"United States coach Mauricio Pochettino and American players reacted to Folarin Balogun's red card after win over Bosnia & Herzegovina, which will also affect next match\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3543\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-02T05:09:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3543#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3543\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"headline\":\"Folarin Balogun\u2019s World Cup red card: Pochettino, U.S. stars weigh in on VAR decision\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-02T05:09:31+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3543\"},\"wordCount\":732,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3543#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/da6a6ca7c57333fae2b31f63e0cd4889.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Sports\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3543#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3543\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3543\",\"name\":\"Folarin Balogun\u2019s World Cup red card: Pochettino, U.S. stars weigh in on VAR decision - Next City Digest\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3543#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3543#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/da6a6ca7c57333fae2b31f63e0cd4889.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-02T05:09:31+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3543#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3543\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3543#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/da6a6ca7c57333fae2b31f63e0cd4889.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/da6a6ca7c57333fae2b31f63e0cd4889.webp\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":799},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3543#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Folarin Balogun\u2019s World Cup red card: Pochettino, U.S. stars weigh in on VAR decision\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Next City Digest\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Folarin Balogun\u2019s World Cup red card: Pochettino, U.S. stars weigh in on VAR decision - Next City Digest","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3543","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Folarin Balogun\u2019s World Cup red card: Pochettino, U.S. stars weigh in on VAR decision - Next City Digest","og_description":"United States coach Mauricio Pochettino and American players reacted to Folarin Balogun's red card after win over Bosnia & Herzegovina, which will also affect next match","og_url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3543","og_site_name":"Next City Digest","article_published_time":"2026-07-02T05:09:31+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3543#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3543"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b"},"headline":"Folarin Balogun\u2019s World Cup red card: Pochettino, U.S. stars weigh in on VAR decision","datePublished":"2026-07-02T05:09:31+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3543"},"wordCount":732,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3543#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/da6a6ca7c57333fae2b31f63e0cd4889.webp","articleSection":["Sports"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3543#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3543","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3543","name":"Folarin Balogun\u2019s World Cup red card: Pochettino, U.S. stars weigh in on VAR decision - Next City Digest","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3543#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3543#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/da6a6ca7c57333fae2b31f63e0cd4889.webp","datePublished":"2026-07-02T05:09:31+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3543#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3543"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3543#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/da6a6ca7c57333fae2b31f63e0cd4889.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/da6a6ca7c57333fae2b31f63e0cd4889.webp","width":1024,"height":799},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3543#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Folarin Balogun\u2019s World Cup red card: Pochettino, U.S. stars weigh in on VAR decision"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/","name":"Next City Digest","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/nextcitydigest.com"],"url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3543","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3543"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3543\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3542"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3543"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3543"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}