The most memorable moment of the United States men's national team's run through the World Cup was forward Folarin Balogun's red card getting overturned by FIFA after United States President Donald Trump called FIFA president Gianni Infantino. While Infantino says that the call had no impact on the FIFA Disciplinary Committee's decision, Balogun did admit, while sitting down with CBS Mornings, that the situation, taking on such great importance ahead of a round of 16 match facing Belgium, was a distraction to the squad. While he was happy to be back on the team and never thought that it was a red card due to it being an intentional challenge on the Bosnia and Herzegovina defender, Balogun did admit that the noise surrounding the overturn was hard to avoid.
"When I kind of started to reflect, I knew it was gonna cause a lot of controversy, and I could almost see within my teammates a bit of nerves because it was something that's so unique," Balogun said, joining CBS Mornings. "But the closer we got to the game, I tried to just focus as best as I could. But it was difficult, you know, a lot of outside noise, and that's hard to avoid.
"It was a situation that was unfortunate, which gave me confidence. But as you said, it was confusing because the team was practicing without me being in the team," He continued. "I'm almost just playing a supporting role to try to keep the morale high, and then think it was a day or two before kickoff. I get told I'm back in the team, and we found out on the team bus."
Folarin Balogun tells CBS Mornings what was going through his mind when he received a red card at the U.S. men’s #WorldCup game against Bosnia and Herzegovina: “I was definitely in shock.”
— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) July 14, 2026
He said he was “happy to be back on the team” after President Trump spoke to FIFA… pic.twitter.com/zY6Y46Tmjc
When they took the pitch against Belgium in Seattle, those same nerves were evident. Gone was the front-foot soccer that got the USMNT to that point, and the squad seemed lost when Charles De Ketelaere scored only nine minutes into the match. That poor performance didn't dissipate as the USMNT ended up losing 4-1.
Despite that game being a struggle, Balogun doesn't want to chalk that up to the red card controversy because, despite the confusion surrounding the situation, they are professionals who faced off against a tough Belgian side.
"We're all professionals, so it's not something I think was too difficult to be able to separate once we kind of got over the initial announcement that I'd be back in the team, and I think you definitely saw it was a difficult game against Belgium, and that can overshadow whether we were focused or not," Balogun said. "But, from being inside the camp and inside the setup, I know we had full concentration going into the game."
Despite how things ended for the USMNT, it was a strong tournament for Balogun, scoring three goals while making his World Cup debut, and his response was emphatic, saying, "for sure" when asked if we'll see him and the USMNT back on this stage for the 2030 World Cup. While the USMNT will need to qualify for that one, there are plenty of reasons to have confidence because the core of this squad is playing at a high level, and there are also extremely talented youth players who will get Olympic experience in 2028 and be able to use that to push for senior squad minutes as well.
What's not known is who the coach will be, but Balogun does hope that Maruicio Pochettino will continue in the role.
"Pochettino is a great coach. He has done amazing stuff, and I just hope he can continue this journey with us," Balogun said.
Pochettino's contract expired following the end of the World Cup, but US Soccer has put out a statement that they will continue conversations with the Argentine following their World Cup exit. That could end up leading to an extension, but without competitive matches until Concacaf Nations League play picks up in November, there is some time before a decision needs to be made.
