​U.S. men’s national team forward Folarin Balogun admitted the controversy around his red card suspension being reversed affected his team mentally in its World Cup loss to Belgium.Balogun was at the center of a chaotic situation surrounding the USMNT’s World Cup round of 16 match against Belgium.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAfter receiving a red card in the USA’S 2-0 win against Bosnia and Herzegovina in the round of 32, Balogun was set to serve an automatic one-game suspension in the Belgium match.But FIFA made a stunning last-minute decision to allow Balogun to play against Belgium, saying that the forward’s suspension had been suspended for a probationary period of one year.1 / 23Folarin Balogun fouls Tarik Muharemovic of Bosnia and Herzegovina during their World Cup knockout match on July 1, 2026. The play was later reviewed by VAR and Balogun was charged with a red card. He was initially facing the possibility of missing Americans’ crucial knockout-stage match against Belgium. FIFA originally announced the automatic one-game suspension that comes with a red card would stand, but it reversed course and suspended Balogun’s suspension for one year.(Michael Steele, Getty Images)The move was already contentious, but the controversy reached another level when U.S. President Donald Trump revealed he pushed FIFA president Gianni Infantino to reverse the suspension.With Balogun back in the mix, the USMNT played its worst game of the tournament, falling 4-1 to Belgium in a dismal performance in Seattle.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThough every U.S. player insisted after the game that the controversy didn’t impact the team’s performance, Balogun said differently in an interview with CBS Mornings on Tuesday, July 14.“My initial reaction was I was happy to be back in the team, but when I kind of started to reflect, I knew it was going to cause a lot of controversy,” Balogun said.“And I could almost see within my teammates a bit of nerves. Because it is something that is so unique. The closer we got to the game, I tried to just focus as best as I could, but it was difficult. A lot of outside noise and that’s hard to avoid.”Balogun accepted his red card prior to the ban being overturned, saying he didn’t agree with the call but that he wanted to set a positive example of sportsmanship.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementOn Tuesday, the forward reiterated his belief that his challenge on Bosnia and Herzegovina defender Tarik Muharemovic was not worthy of a red card.“It wasn’t even a tackle,” Balogun said. “I was totally in shock, I think you could see in my reaction. I just had to accept the decision and just try to be there for my team.“When something is not intentional, it should never be a red card. It was just an unfortunate situation and it put a lot more pressure on us than we needed.”1 / 5US forward #20 Folarin Balogun (C) celebrates with teammates after scoring his team’s third goal during the 2026