Pochettino regrets limited role in Balogun red card decision at World Cup

Mauricio Pochettino says controversial Folarin Balogun appeal ‘changed the energy’ around US team at World Cup 2026.

United States coach Mauricio Pochettino said he regretted not being more involved in the decision to appeal Folarin Balogun’s World Cup red card, adding that the controversy changed the energy around his team before their last-16 loss to Belgium.

Balogun was sent off in the US’s round-of-32 win over Bosnia but FIFA’s disciplinary committee later suspended his one-match ban for a year, allowing the forward to play against Belgium.

The decision triggered controversy after US President Donald Trump said he had intervened on behalf of the World Cup cohosts by urging FIFA chief Gianni Infantino to review the case.

“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 for Futbol de Primera on Thursday.

The US had moved through the group stage before beating Bosnia, raising hopes that the team could reach the World Cup quarterfinals for the first time since 2002.

Instead, the Americans lost 4-1 to Belgium in the last 16.

Pochettino added that he understood how a change to the punishment following a referee’s decision to send a player off at a World Cup – one that allowed the player to feature in the next match – could alter the outcome of the match.

“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 added that he did not believe a different tactical approach, strategy or team selection would have changed the performance against Belgium.

He said US Soccer should narrow the group responsible for making decisions about matters 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 said earlier this month it would not support Infantino’s bid for another term as FIFA president unless it received satisfactory answers over the Balogun case and other governance concerns.

It said FIFA had not provided adequate justification for suspending Balogun’s ban or explained how comparable cases would be handled in future, and asked for the matter to be placed on the agenda for the next FIFA Council meeting on October 15.

The US host Peru in a friendly in Orlando on Saturday, before facing Chile on Tuesday and Mexico and Canada next week.