Folarin Balogun: Ban reversal caused ‘a lot of outside noise, and that’s hard to avoid’

Folarin Balogun acknowledged that the reversal of his World Cup red card created significant controversy and outside noise. The Monaco forward was originally sent off during the United States match against Bosnia and Herzegovina. However, Fifa's disciplinary committee suspended the one-match ban for a year following President Trump's communication with the Fifa president. This decision allowed Balogun to play in the last-16 game against Belgium, though he admits the situation emotionally affected his USMNT teammates.