2026 FIFA World Cup

[donlever]

Appears Folarin Baloguns red card will be rescinded and he will play for the US versus Belgium.

Very unusual development....

[Cousin Strawberry]

Did the pederast have to return his fake peace prize to unlock this?

[Meds]

Wouldn't that be a kick in the ass if a soccer playing Sedin won Canada some sort of championship in soccer (however unlikely...)

Nah. He’s born here. He’s Canadian, not Swedish.

A Sedin.

Not a Swede.

Yes. Because that Sedin was born here in Canada

[donlever]

Why do I bother....

[donlever]

Haaland is something fucking else.

And he in no way is a Picker of Cherries.

Dude can fly.

At that size moving that quick he's ridiculous.

[5thhorseman]

Mëds needs to go on journey of self discovery to Sweden during midsommer. Enjoy some surstromming, get hammered on aquavit, eat lingonberry ice cream, lay with a young fair haired maiden... he'll gain a greater understanding for our benevolent friends from over there and learn to celebrate their unique and peaceful culture

(Oh and he'll see they are just as rabid about hockey as Canadians)

Mëds would truly be Bjorn again.

[5thhorseman]

Cracking game. England deserved red there.

[donlever]

Man short.

Thin air draining.

Raucous crowd against them.

Can they hold on.

[Topper]

Too bad Mexico - Paraguay couldn't happen. Would be a shit show.

[Per]

Appears Folarin Baloguns red card will be rescinded and he will play for the US versus Belgium.

Very unusual development....

UEFA has issued a statement:

Yesterday’s decision to suspend for a probationary period of a year the implementation of the one-match automatic suspension following the red card issued to the player Folarin Balogun crossed a red line.

Football, like any other sports, relies on rules, which are the basis for fair, honest and transparent competition. Sometimes rules are open to interpretation. In this case not. A minimum automatic suspension of one match following a red card is not a discretionary option and does not require the decision of a competent body to be enacted. It is a principle embedded in regulations, which cannot be made subject to exceptions, let alone in the middle of a tournament where several other players have been in the same situation and regularly served their suspension.

When the certainty of rules is no longer guaranteed by its guardians, the integrity of the game is at stake and the credibility of a competition is undermined. Equally, such decision creates a precedent in the ongoing tournament, where similar situations will now require an equal treatment, to the detriment of the competition.

Football is the most loved sport in the world because it is a beautiful game and is trusted because it is played everywhere with the same laws. A tournament is never a pure standalone and, if the tournament in question is the World Cup, it has the power to drive positive or negative consequences on the game as a whole.

We express our disbelief at such an unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable decision.

And Belgium has appealed the decision to the CAS (Court of Arbitration for Sport) who will hear the case today. It is unclear if a decision can be reached before the game starts. If Balogun plays against Belgium, and Belgium wins the court case, the USA could get disqualified.

[Topper]

You know it is bad when Sepp Blatter calls out FIFA for corruption.

It's all a warm up for LA.

[Per]

The suspended suspension just shows how disgraceful the level of corruption in FIFA has become. The rules for the tournament are crystal clear; a red card means an automatic suspension for the next game. There is no exception, no process for appeal.

To change the rules mid tournament is a new low even for FIFA and I suppose Trump and Infantino are now the two most hated people in the world. Remember that the World Cup typically is followed by 5 billion people. Five billion people who just spat out their coffee in disbelief and in unison said ”wtf?!”

I guess everyone now hopes that Belgium wins, so that this parody of a decision does not taint the outcome of the tournament.
The mere idea of a president of a country calling the president of FIFA to have a call reversed, is ludicrous. And that the FIFA clown then actually overrides the referee and the rules of the tournament to suck that president’s ass is beyond belief.
This is a new low for FIFA.

A best case scenario is that Belgium does take this to the CAS and that they rule in their favour, leaving both Trump and Infantino with their pants around their feet.


That being said, there is actually an honorable solution to this for the US. If the coach benches Balogun, the whole issue becomes moot and the US team will actually win a lot of goodwill by respecting the rules even when FIFA doesn’t.

[UWSaint]

You know it is bad when Sepp Blatter calls out FIFA for corruption.

It's all a warm up for LA.

Blatter should have used the reversal to get unbanned. 2D man.

[Topper]

Post game comments from TSN

"An embarrassment prior and during the game"

"Believing their own hype but really not very good"

"Outclassed"

"Pulisic clearly didn't want to be out on the pitch, 14 turnovers"

[Per]

Before the "incident" I felt it'd be good for the tournament and football in general if the USA would win this game, but after the Trump/Infantino debacle I just wanted the USA to be eliminated.

I'm part of the "I can't believe they made us support Belgium" crowd.

But this isn't over. Infantino should be forced to resign over this.

A red card suspension has never been recalled in the history of the World Cup. The one game suspension is automatic, and there is no process for appeal. The referees make the call on the pitch and that call should stand. In this case it was even a VAR decision, so THREE refs looked at it and thought it was worthy of a red card.

Some people bring up that Garrincha got a red card in 1962 and was allowed to play the next game, but that was before the red card suspension became automatic. Back then you were just kicked off the pitch when you got the red card, and then a committee decided if there should be further consequensces. So no suspension was overturned then either. He simply wasn't suspended.

The UEFA says it is an outrage. Pretty much every footballer out there is shocked at the hypocracy.
Even Blatter thinks the corruption has gone too far.

Heads should roll, starting with Infantino's.