Mauricio Pochettino claims the Folarin Balogun red card appeal controversy shifted the momentum around the US squad at the 2026 World Cup.
United States coach Mauricio Pochettino expressed regret over not being more involved in the appeal of Folarin Balogun’s World Cup red card, saying the controversy altered the team’s atmosphere before their last-16 defeat to Belgium.
Balogun was dismissed during the US’s round-of-32 victory over Bosnia, but FIFA’s disciplinary committee later overturned the one-match suspension for a year, clearing him to play against Belgium.
The decision sparked controversy after US President Donald Trump said he had lobbied FIFA president Gianni Infantino to review the case on behalf of the World Cup co-hosts.
“Perhaps I regret not having been more involved when the Bosnia match ended, in the situation that followed and generated everything negative that happened after,” Pochettino said in an interview with Futbol de Primera on Thursday.
The US had progressed through the group stage and defeated Bosnia, raising hopes of a quarterfinal appearance for the first time since 2002. Instead, they lost 4-1 to Belgium in the last 16.
Pochettino acknowledged that a change to the punishment after a referee’s red card – permitting the player to feature in the next match – could sway a game’s outcome. “No one understood why it happened, and as a football person, I know how things can shift the energy in an instant. After that, the energy changed. The match was then played under different parameters,” he said.
The 54-year-old Argentinian coach insisted that a different tactical approach, strategy or team selection would not have altered the performance against Belgium.
He called for US Soccer to narrow the group responsible for decisions such as appealing red cards. “I think about the decisions made after the Bosnia match. These things need to be managed internally within a much more limited structure,” Pochettino said. “The decisions need to come from very few people, from a sports perspective and with common sense. This applies regardless of what a committee or a regulation may decide after.”
Belgium’s football federation stated earlier this month it would not support Infantino’s bid for another FIFA presidency unless it received satisfactory answers on the Balogun case and other governance issues. It demanded FIFA provide adequate justification for suspending Balogun’s ban and explain how similar cases would be handled, requesting the matter be added to the next FIFA Council meeting agenda on October 15.
The US next face Peru in a friendly in Orlando on Saturday, then Chile on Tuesday, and Mexico and Canada next week.