Manager Mauricio Pochettino says Folarin Balogun’s controversial appeal has “changed the energy” around the US team at the 2026 World Cup.
Published September 26, 2026
US coach Mauricio Pochettino has said he regrets not being more involved in the decision to appeal Folarin Balogun’s World Cup red card, adding that the controversy changed the team’s energy before their last-16 loss to Belgium.
Balogun was sent off during the United States’ last-32 win over Bosnia, but the FIFA Disciplinary Committee later revoked his one-year, one-game suspension and allowed him to play in the game against Belgium.
Recommended stories
list of 4 itemsend of list
The decision was controversial after US President Donald Trump urged FIFA chief Gianni Infantino to reconsider the matter and said he was intervening on behalf of the World Cup co-hosts.
“Maybe I regret not being more involved when the Bosnia game ended and creating all the negative situations that followed,” Pochettino said in an interview with Futbol de Primera on Thursday.
The United States had advanced through the group stage before defeating Bosnia, raising hopes of advancing to the World Cup quarterfinals for the first time since 2002.
Instead, the U.S. lost to Belgium 4-1 in the round of 16.
Pochettino added that he understands how a change in penalties after a referee’s decision to send a player off at the World Cup, allowing that player to play in the next match, can change the outcome of a match.
“No one understood why it happened. As a football official, I know how things can change the energy in an instant. Then the energy changed. Then the match was played under different parameters,” he said.
The 54-year-old Argentine coach added that he does not think a different tactical approach, strategy or team selection would change the performance against Belgium.
He said U.S. Soccer should narrow down the group responsible for making decisions on matters such as red card claims.
“I think about the decisions that were taken after the Bosnia game. These things need to be managed internally within a more limited structure,” Pochettino said.
“Decisions need to be made by a very small number of people, based on a sporting perspective and common sense. This is true regardless of what the committee or regulations decide later on.”
The Belgian Football Federation said earlier this month that it would not support Infantino’s re-election as FIFA president unless the Balogun scandal and other governance concerns were satisfactorily answered.
The paper said FIFA had not provided sufficient grounds for suspending Balogun’s suspension, nor did it explain how similar cases would be handled in the future, and called for the matter to be placed on the agenda of the next FIFA Executive Board meeting on October 15.
The U.S. plays a friendly at home against Peru on Saturday in Orlando, then faces Chile on Tuesday, Mexico and Canada next week.
