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U.S. striker Folarin Balogun suggested the controversy over President Trump’s push to have a red card he was given during the nation’s run in the 2026 World Cup was a distracting factor before their exit from the tournament.
“My initial reaction was, you know, I was happy to be back in the team,” Balogun said during an appearance on CBS this week.
“But 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’s something that’s so unique,” he added, in comments first highlighted by Mediaite.
The soccer star continued, saying “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.”
Balogun was handed a red card during Team USA’s first match in the knockout round, a penalty many saw as harsh and would have kept him out of the team’s next game against Belgium.
FIFA shocked the football world the day before the Americans were set to take on Belgium when it suspended Balogun’s red card, a move that came after Trump lobbied the federation to review the controversial call.
The U.S. team ultimately lost to Belgium, which were knocked out of the tournament by Spain in the next round.
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