‘It is never a red card’ – Pochettino fumes at Balogun sending off

Syndicated reporting provided by Stats Perform and reviewed by the SoccerNews editorial team.

An angry Mauricio Pochettino believed Folarin Balogun should not have been sent off during the United States’ victory over Bosnia-Herzegovina at the World Cup. 

The United States booked their spot in the last 32 of the World Cup with a 2-0 win at San Francisco Bay Area Stadium, though the win was overshadowed by Balogun’s red card. 

Balogun had opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time before being dismissed in the 64th minute for a tackle down the back of Tarik Muharemovic’s leg. 

Albeit an unintentional challenge, referee Raphael Claus was sent to the pitchside monitor and awarded the red card, as Balogun became the fourth player to score a goal and be sent off in a World Cup knockout match after Zinedine Zidane (2006 final), Ronaldinho (2002 quarter-final) and Garrincha (1962 semi-final).

However, that did not deter the United States, who sealed their passage eight minutes from time thanks to Malik Tillman’s brilliant free-kick past Nikola Vasilj. 

But Pochettino was left to focus on the incident involving Balogun in his post-match assessment, telling reporters: “For me, it is never a red card.

“It was never [his] intention to step on the player.

“It was a normal action in football, that you are fighting for the ball, and your feet land, no? Yeah, maybe it was a little bit tough, the scene, to watch. But it was never intentional.”

The United States have the opportunity to appeal the decision before their last 16 tie against Belgium on July 6. 

“He [Balogun] is very disappointed, because I think it was an action that was unintentional. But also he’s happy because we qualified,” added Pochettino.

“We cannot do anything to change that feeling. That is over. That is football. He needs to understand that this type of situation happens.

“For sure, he is going to help us to perform. I hope that we can go to the next round and [he will] be available again.”

2006 – Folarin Balogun is the fourth player to score a goal and receive a red card in a FIFA World Cup knockout match:

Folarin Balogun – 2026 round of 32
Zinedine Zidane – 2006 final
Ronaldinho – 2002 quarter-final
Garrincha – 1962 semi-final

— OptaJack (@OptaJack) July 2, 2026

The United States have now advanced in a knockout round match in the World Cup for the second time following a 2-0 win against Mexico in 2002.

Prior to their victory over Bosnia, their win over Mexico 24 years ago was the only knockout match in which the United States led or kept a clean sheet.

And that victory came at Bosnia’s expense, who have now lost all four World Cup matches in which they have gone behind at any point in the competition. 

Sergej Barbarez’s side, which was mixed with a blend of youth and experience, reached the knockout stages for the first time in their history in what was only their second appearance at the World Cup, following their group-stage run in 2014. 

After drawing with co-hosts Canada in their opening match of the tournament, they lost 4-1 to Switzerland before beating Qatar to advance as one of the best third-placed teams. 

Their win over Qatar ended a seven-match winless run across all competitions, while also registering their second-ever win at the World Cup. 

“I was really proud of them,” Barbarez said of his team.

“This is the result that we should celebrate, ​we shouldn’t be sad, because this is part of ​life, part of football, especially in a big competition like this.

“Video messages are nice and great, phone calls are ​great, but being among people, only then ​will ⁠we understand how good this is, how big it is. 

“Although we were down two goals, my heart was really full ⁠when I ​was watching them. This ​is really a beautiful thing, and I’m the proudest coach in the ​world right now.”

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