{"id":90731,"date":"2026-07-03T17:16:49","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T21:16:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/suspended-balogun-vows-to-cheer-us-team-on-against-belgium-at-world-cup\/"},"modified":"2026-07-03T17:16:49","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T21:16:49","slug":"suspended-balogun-vows-to-cheer-us-team-on-against-belgium-at-world-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/suspended-balogun-vows-to-cheer-us-team-on-against-belgium-at-world-cup\/","title":{"rendered":"Suspended Balogun Vows to Cheer US Team On Against Belgium at World Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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SEATTLE \u2014 United States forward Folarin Balogun says the red card he received during Wednesday’s last-32 World Cup victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina was an unfair ruling, but he’s already shifted his attention to doing whatever he can to help the team in Monday’s round-of-16 showdown with Belgium.<\/p>

Balogun had quite the eventful afternoon against Bosnia, netting his third goal of the tournament to put the U.S. ahead early, only to be ejected in the second half after his foot came down on the ankle of Bosnian defender Tarik Muharemovic.<\/p>

U.S. head coach Mauricio Pochettino publicly pushed back on the decision, calling the contact accidental. Balogun agreed, saying the situation was simply unavoidable.<\/p>

The Monaco forward described the aftermath as an emotional whirlwind. He said getting a reaction from NBA legend LeBron James following his goal celebration was “a surreal moment,” but that joy was quickly overshadowed by the realization that he would miss the next match due to suspension.<\/p>

“It’s been a rollercoaster, there’s been lots of different emotions,” Balogun told reporters ahead of Friday’s training session \u2014 a session that kicked off with coach Pochettino taking some baseball pointers before heading out to throw the ceremonial first pitch at the Seattle Mariners’ game later that evening.<\/p>

“I’ve been sad, I’ve been happy, it’s been surreal to be honest,” Balogun said. “It’s important for me to say, obviously, first and foremost, it was totally unintentional, which I’m sure a lot of people know. I don’t think it was the correct call. I think a yellow card would have been fair.”<\/p>

Even so, Balogun made clear he intends to be a presence for the squad even without setting foot on the field.<\/p>

“Just to support the boys, support the team,” he said. “I love seeing how engaged the country is in our journey and what we’re doing. I think my role is just to continue to support everybody, to keep morale high.”<\/p>

The U.S. players looked loose and energetic throughout the training session, later moving to a nearby ballpark for a casual baseball game. Defender Tim Ream reportedly stood out at the plate during the outing.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

US forward Folarin Balogun is sitting out Monday’s World Cup last-16 match against Belgium after being sent off in the win over Bosnia and Herzegovina. Despite his frustration over the red card, Balogun says he plans to keep spirits high and support his teammates from the sidelines. The Monaco striker scored his third goal of the tournament before the controversial dismissal in the second half.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":90730,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[836],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-90731","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/news-1783113409093.jpg?fit=450%2C310&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pbtNqq-nBp","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":89844,"url":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/balogun-scores-gets-red-card-as-us-beats-bosnia-2-0-to-advance\/","url_meta":{"origin":90731,"position":0},"title":"Balogun Scores, Gets Red Card as US Beats Bosnia 2-0 to Advance","author":"Admin","date":"July 1, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"American striker Folarin Balogun had a night of extremes during the U.S. World Cup round-of-32 victory over Bosnia on Wednesday, scoring his third goal of the tournament before being ejected after a VAR review. Despite playing a man down for much of the second half, the U.S. held on for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sports"","block_context":{"text":"Sports","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/category\/sports\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/news-1782962221453.jpg?fit=450%2C269&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":89842,"url":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/usa-advances-in-world-cup-with-gutsy-2-0-win-over-bosnia-despite-playing-shorthanded\/","url_meta":{"origin":90731,"position":1},"title":"USA Advances in World Cup with Gutsy 2-0 Win Over Bosnia Despite Playing Shorthanded","author":"Admin","date":"July 1, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"The United States men's soccer team punched their ticket to the knockout round of the World Cup on Wednesday, defeating Bosnia 2-0 in a dramatic match in the San Francisco Bay Area. The victory ended a 24-year drought without a knockout-stage win and snapped a 10-game losing streak against European\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sports"","block_context":{"text":"Sports","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/category\/sports\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/news-1782962220546.jpg?fit=450%2C319&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":74608,"url":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/us-mens-soccer-defeats-senegal-3-2-in-world-cup-preparation-match\/","url_meta":{"origin":90731,"position":2},"title":"US Men’s Soccer Defeats Senegal 3-2 in World Cup Preparation Match","author":"Admin","date":"May 31, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"The United States men's soccer team secured a 3-2 victory against Senegal in a World Cup preparation friendly on Sunday. Christian Pulisic and Folarin Balogun led the scoring effort, with Balogun netting the decisive goal in the second half.","rel":"","context":"In "Sports"","block_context":{"text":"Sports","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/category\/sports\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/news-1780266098019.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/news-1780266098019.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/news-1780266098019.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/news-1780266098019.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/news-1780266098019.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":80953,"url":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/us-soccer-coach-credits-team-unity-for-historic-4-1-world-cup-win-over-paraguay\/","url_meta":{"origin":90731,"position":3},"title":"US Soccer Coach Credits Team Unity for Historic 4-1 World Cup Win Over Paraguay","author":"Admin","date":"June 13, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Coach Mauricio Pochettino emphasized collective effort over individual performances following the United States' commanding 4-1 World Cup opening victory against Paraguay. 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Goals from Folarin Balogun and Alex\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sports"","block_context":{"text":"Sports","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/category\/sports\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/news-1781904682046.jpg?fit=1000%2C666&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/news-1781904682046.jpg?fit=1000%2C666&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/news-1781904682046.jpg?fit=1000%2C666&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/news-1781904682046.jpg?fit=1000%2C666&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":87858,"url":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/world-cup-knockout-round-begins-4-big-takeaways-from-the-tournament-so-far\/","url_meta":{"origin":90731,"position":5},"title":"World Cup Knockout Round Begins: 4 Big Takeaways From the Tournament So Far","author":"Admin","date":"June 28, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"The FIFA World Cup's group stage has wrapped up and the knockout round is set to kick off Sunday. 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Here are four key takeaways from the competition so far.","rel":"","context":"In "Sports"","block_context":{"text":"Sports","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/category\/sports\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90731","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90731"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90731\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90730"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90731"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90731"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90731"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}