A key part of the US team gets reinstated for a story book run while the US is hosting the event....color me shocked!

I do agree that the call was bull shit, but not being a soccer guy I am not really an authority on that matter, just looked pretty incidental to me.

Belgium team being a bunch of whiners about it, all they did was do what should have been done from the beginning. No way US should have been without their best player for something that should not have been called. If there were any favoritism for the US it would not have been called in the first place and they would not have had to play almost a full half a player short.

It was the right thing to do by FIFA. It was a bogus red card, not call. At worst, he should have received a yellow card. I was glad to see this decision overturned earlier today as well.

It also sounds like a certain someone called the FIFA president to review the case on behalf of Balogun.

IceRatz16 wrote:

It was the right thing to do by FIFA. It was a bogus red card, not call. At worst, he should have received a yellow card. I was glad to see this decision overturned earlier today as well.

It also sounds like a certain someone called the FIFA president to review the case on behalf of Balogun.

Anyone appreciate the irony of, and consistency of this story?

FIFA used the same Rule 27 ruling to reinstate Christiano Ronaldo so that he could play in the World Cup so not unique to this situation. Did FIFA want Ronaldo in the World Cup...absolutely. Did FIFA want to keep the US team's star on the team..for a World Cup in the US...again..absolutely . Soccer would be dead in this Country for another 20 years if they didn't do something.

Here's the rule on using VAR to determine severity of physical contact:

• The referee can request different cameras angles/replay speeds but, in general, slow motion replays should only be used for facts, e.g. position of offence/player, point of contact for physical offences and handball, ball out of play (including goal/no goal); normal speed should be used for the ‘intensity’ of an offence or to decide if it was a handball offence

The referee said that he used slow motion to determine the severity of the contact which is against the FIFA rules. It never should have been a Red card anyway especially after no call initially.

https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/49278521/nobody-benefits-fifa-letting-balogun-hook-not-even-usmnt

IceRatz16 wrote:

It was the right thing to do by FIFA. It was a bogus red card, not call. At worst, he should have received a yellow card. I was glad to see this decision overturned earlier today as well.

It also sounds like a certain someone called the FIFA president to review the case on behalf of Balogun.

Wish a "certain someone" was a Vikings fan.

Vanguard83 wrote:

Wish a "certain someone" was a Vikings fan.

🤣 Thanks, that made me chuckle a bit.

JimmyinSD wrote:

🤣 Thanks, that made me chuckle a bit.

Me 3 lol!

StickierBuns wrote:

https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/49278521/nobody-benefits-fifa-letting-balogun-hook-not-even-usmnt

badgervike wrote:

FIFA used the same Rule 27 ruling to reinstate Christiano Ronaldo so that he could play in the World Cup so not unique to this situation. Did FIFA want Ronaldo in the World Cup...absolutely. Did FIFA want to keep the US team's star on the team..for a World Cup in the US...again..absolutely . Soccer would be dead in this Country for another 20 years if they didn't do something.
Here's the rule on using VAR to determine severity of physical contact:
The referee can request different cameras angles/replay speeds but, in general, slow motion replays should only be used for facts, e.g. position of offence/player, point of contact for physical offences and handball, ball out of play (including goal/no goal); normal speed should be used for the ‘intensity’ of an offence or to decide if it was a handball offence
The referee said that he used slow motion to determine the severity of the contact which is against the FIFA rules. It never should have been a Red card anyway especially after no call initially.

Exactly. This was the problem and the reason for the incorrect red card initially. It was silly to give a red for that foul after using VAR and then go against the letter of the rule?

I stand corrected, as Sticky's link provides more clarity that the VAR process did not align to protocol and the ref was only given slow-motion and still images. That's a stain on the VAR process and FIFA then and they should have overturned this as a result to incorrectly providing the referee with the appropriate information. This just wreaks of bias otherwise.

FIFA rejects Belgium request; Balogun still clear to play vs. Belgium

FIFA has ruled a request from the Belgium football federation for an explanation of Folarin Balogun's suspended red card as "inadmissible," meaning they have no grounds to appeal the decision and the United States forward remains cleared to play against them in Monday's World Cup round-of-16 match.

"The FIFA Appeal Committee has rendered a request submitted by the Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA) as inadmissible in relation to the FIFA Disciplinary Committee's decision to suspend for one year the match suspension imposed on United States national team player Folarin Balogun following his dismissal for a direct red card during the FIFA World Cup 2026™ match between the United States and Bosnia and Herzegovina, played on 1 July 2026 at San Francisco Bay Area Stadium," FIFA said in a statement on Monday.

All academic now gang

4-1 Belgium. Looking forward to England / Norway !!!

That was an abysmal performance by the U.S. No urgency, no passion, no intensity. They deserved to lose, and frankly, they deserved to lose by more.

Tim Ream looked like a shell of himself. He was physically overmatched on the second goal, allowing the free header, and then completely whiffed on one of the most basic defensive clearances you'll ever see, gifting the opponent another goal. A brutal outing.

Sergino Dest looked lost in the first half. He failed to locate the ball on the opening goal, didn't communicate, and allowed it to drop uncontested inside the box. I was glad to see him come off because he simply wasn't contributing.

Antonee Robinson had a few nice runs, but his service into the box was awful. Cross after cross found defenders or no one at all. Too many promising attacks died because the final ball wasn't even close.

Christian Pulisic played far too cautiously. He's at his best when he's running at defenders and forcing the issue, but tonight he looked hesitant and never really imposed himself on the match.

Malik Tillman was one of the few players who looked like he actually wanted to compete. Balogun was decent overall, but on that 1v1 chance from the left side, I thought he needed to hit it with his right foot and curl it across the goalkeeper. The keeper did well to take away the near post, and the angle with his left wasn't there.

Overall, the entire team looked disconnected, sluggish, and lacking conviction. There was no rhythm, no chemistry, and very little fight. It's hard to watch a performance where it feels like one team desperately wanted the result and the other was just going through the motions. A thoroughly disappointing performance. Kind of felt like a lot of Vikings playoff teams we've witnessed over the years.

Vanguard83 wrote:

Wish a "certain someone" was a Vikings fan.

Maybe if a "certain someone" did not insert himself in to this the US might have had a fighting chance. How did Balogun and the almighty Pulisic play by the way?

^^^ This was a joke on IceRatz earlier post. I'm certainly no fan of "certain someone" by any stretch of the imagination.

IceRatz assessment above is spot on. Ream gave away two goals, our crosses missed their mark, and the US was playing "not to lose".

In other news: Our friend just called FIFA and has arranged for four more goals....USMNT moves on !!!!

(Yes...that too was a joke)

Contrary to the hype and hyperbole masters like Colin Cowherd, Pat McAfee, etc. this USA squad was NOT going to come close to winning the Cup. Tim Howard said it was 'impossible' for the USA to win a few days ago and that was obviously correct....and anyone that knows soccer to any extent understood that. Its always just a fun time for the very very casual U.S. soccer fan to hop on the bandwagon and for the media to do so as well.