Belgium must ignore the Folarin Balogun situation and focus on the task at hand

Belgium must ignore the Folarin Balogun situation and focus on the task at hand Belgium’s clash with the USA in the Round of 16 of the 2026 World Cup has taken a dramatic turn. Folarin Balogun’s red card suspension has been, in the eyes of many, arbitrability kicked down the road so that the striker can play against the Red Devils. Quite rightly there has been push back amongst the media and the Belgian FA have also decided to step in and lodge a complaint. Yet for the Belgium team that will take the field to face the USMNT, this now has to become background noise. They can ill afford to focus on Balogun and instead look at how they will overcome the hosts at the World Cup. After England battled to a 3-2 victory over Mexico, the USA are the last host standing. Belgium will be confident after they showed incredible resilience to beat Senegal in the Round of 32, but the situation around Balogun can easily become a distraction. Should calls begin to go against them, it will be easy for the players and the coaching staff to think that something nefarious is going in. In this, FIFA only have themselves to blame. Whether or not the red card was warranted for Balogun, the rules are clear. Red cards received in a World Cup require immediate suspension of the player for the next game, and the player’s team is unable to lodge an appeal. FIFA have clearly decided to give the hosts a helping hand, a sign of the close relationship between the Presidents of the two organisations. Belgium are the victims in this, but they must now rally around the injustice to put in a performance that has been missing from the tournament so far. They must focus on delivering on the pitch and leave any off the field challenges to the FA. Should Belgium lose, they will have every right to take action against FIFA for this shambolic decision. For the good of the game, regardless of the result, the Belgian FA must lead the charge in holding FIFA to account for going against its own rules. GBeNeFN  |  Ben Jackson