FIFA has suspended the automatic one-match ban imposed on United States striker Folarin Balogun, clearing the 25-year-old Monaco forward to face Belgium in Monday’s World Cup Round of 16 in Seattle. The rare reversal arrived days after President Donald Trump personally telephoned FIFA president Gianni Infantino to request a review of the disciplinary decision.

Balogun was sent off during the United States’ 2-0 Round of 32 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina on July 1 in Santa Clara, California. The on-field referee, Raphael Claus of Brazil, initially waved play on. After a slow-motion Video Assistant Referee review showed Balogun stepping on the right ankle of Bosnian defender Tarik Muharemovic, Claus issued a straight red card early in the second half. The dismissal carried an automatic one-match suspension that, under tournament rules, could not be appealed.

As the team’s leading scorer with three goals, Balogun’s absence would have been a heavy blow to the American attack. His tally at this tournament matches Landon Donovan’s 2010 mark for the second-most goals by an American at a single World Cup, trailing only Bert Patenaude’s four in 1930.

Multiple outlets, citing people familiar with the matter, reported that Trump called Infantino after the Bosnia match to ask FIFA to review the red card. On Sunday, FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee invoked Article 27 of its disciplinary code to place the suspension on probation, telling the US Soccer Federation through its portal that the sanction was “suspended for a probationary period of one year.” The red card itself remains on Balogun’s record, and FIFA warned that any similar offence committed within that window would revoke the reprieve and enforce the ban, along with any further sanction.

US Soccer welcomed the ruling, saying it accepted the committee’s decision and was pleased Balogun remained eligible, with its full attention now on the Seattle knockout tie.

Belgium reacted with open hostility. The Royal Belgian Football Association said it was “astonished,” argued the reversal contradicts Article 10.5 of the FIFA World Cup 2026 Competition Regulations and a circular distributed to all member associations in May, and said it was “investigating all potential options.” Head coach Rudi Garcia mocked the ruling, joking that FIFA had turned the 5th of July into the 1st of April, and framed his federation’s objection as a defence of the sport’s integrity rather than a bid to protect his own team. He said he believed it was the first decision of its kind in World Cup history. Pressed on whether Trump had influenced the outcome, or on a possible appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, Garcia declined to answer.

Trump publicly celebrated the outcome on Truth Social, writing that FIFA had done “what was right, and reversing a great injustice!”

The episode has sharpened long-running questions about the independence of football’s governing body and the propriety of a head of state intervening in a sporting disciplinary matter. Trump has been closely involved in the tournament the United States is co-hosting with Mexico and Canada, and has cultivated a warm relationship with Infantino. FIFA awarded Trump its inaugural peace prize last year, and his 2025 financial disclosure, released last week, showed Infantino had given him ten tickets valued at 15,000 dollars to the Club World Cup final in New Jersey.

The United States now turns to a Round of 16 meeting with Belgium, a side that eliminated the Americans at the same stage in 2014, with a place in the quarter-finals and Balogun’s availability both on the line. Vincypowa News will continue to follow developments at the FIFA World Cup 2026.