
Folarin Balogun felt everything during that game. You could see it.
The US forward just blew the lead at half-time. A fortunate ricochet inside the box kindly enough, it fell right where he needed it to be. His fifth goal in his last six appearances for the USMNT. He was really running up the score there, pulling ahead before things got messy.
But then the dream just shattered. Right after the hour mark. A real dramatic turn happened.
Why was Balogun sent off? That’s the thing everyone is talking about now. It happened in the 64th minute. He was challenging Bosnia defender Tarik Muharemović for a loose ball in midfield. Just tussling, you know?
As they wrestled possession, Balogun landed hard on Muharemović’s right ankle. A foul. Initial call let play continue. But immediately, things got heated. The Bosnian players started appealing for the dismissal. It felt like something serious had gone wrong there.
Then the VAR stepped in. They looked at it all, side-by-side on that monitor. Multiple replays. And then Raphael Claus changed his mind. He showed Balogun a straight red card. Serious foul play . The ruling was that the challenge endangered someone’s safety.
It instantly flipped everything for the US team. Balogun went from being the goalscorer to the first American player sent off in the whole tournament. Mauricio Pochettino's side had to play the last twenty-five minutes with ten men. That changes the dynamic completely, doesn't it? A huge shift.
Meanwhile, despite that disruption, the United States held on defensively. They managed to stay upright. And then Malik Tillman found a way. In the 82nd minute, he curled home a stunning free-kick. That sealed the 2-0 win. Made it to the Round of 16. A massive result nonetheless.
And Balogun’s story gets even stranger. He entered something unusual in World Cup history. He became only the fourth player ever to score and get a red card in a knockout match. Think about that: Zinedine Zidane, back in '06 final. Ronaldinho, quarter-final '02. Garrincha, semi-final '62. Balogun joins that little group now.
It felt like more than just a game result for the US either. It ended a really long wait. Against European teams, they’ve been struggling for ages. Before kick-off, they had only won one of their previous twenty-one World Cup meetings with UEFA nations (D7 L13). Winless in the last thirteen such matches since that Portugal game back in '02. A lot riding on this victory now. It just felt… significant.
Written by Gree News Team — Senior Editorial Board
Gree News Team covers international news and global affairs at Gree News. Our collective of senior editors is dedicated to providing independent, accurate, and responsible journalism for a global audience.
More from Sports
View All
Antonio Nusa Breaks Record as Norway's Youngest Goalscorer
Antonio Nusa just broke Steffen Iversen’s record on Tuesday. He became Norway’s youngest goalscorer at a major tournament. That’s the headline, right there. He hit twenty-one years and seventy-four days when it happened. Iversen held that mark for a while. Twenty-three years and two hundred sixteen
Jul 1, 2026 by Gree News Team

Mexico Defeats Ecuador in Historic Match
Mexico beat Ecuador two goals. It was a huge moment. Four decades of World Cup disappointment finally over. They played at the Azteca stadium. A thunderstorm messed up the start. But when it kicked off, things got intense fast. Javier Aguirre’s team just pushed hard. Relentless attack. Flair. Mexico
Jul 1, 2026 by Gree News Team

Mexico's World Cup Destiny: The Unfolding of El Tri's Triumph
It’s hard to believe in destiny sometimes. But football, it has a way of making even the impossible feel inevitable. On that stormy night at the Azteca, Mexico finally found the ending they had been chasing for forty years. It felt like fate finally caught up. In Mexico, you always hear about $\text
Jul 1, 2026 by Gree News Team

Netherlands versus Morocco World Cup 2026
Netherlands versus Morocco. World Cup 2026. Round of 32. It was one of those huge upsets in Monterrey. Morocco took it. They beat the Netherlands three goals, but only after penalties kicked in following that stupid one-one draw. A really dramatic thing. The Atlas Lions looked like they had it for m
Jun 30, 2026 by Gree News Team
Latest Headlines

Odisha Textbook Controversy and Government Response
Odisha’s government is saying they’ll sort out those textbooks soon. They dismissed the claims that there were over sixteen hundred mistakes, which came up after people started pointing out spelling errors and wrong references to famous people in books for Classes one through eight. But things are s
Jul 2, 2026 by Gree News Team

Prime Minister Modi and Sanae Takaichi Meet in New Delhi
Prime Minister Modi and his Japanese counterpart Sanae Takaichi met in New Delhi today, July 2nd. It was an Annual Summit-level chat. They talked about cooperation, trying to sort things out across different areas. Takaichi is Japan’s first woman PM. This trip is her very first time visiting India.
Jul 2, 2026 by Gree News Team

Demolition of Historic Gurdwara in Pakistan and International Reaction
That old Gurdwara in Pakistan, one that was 125 years old it got demolished. Allegedly by some local businessman. And that sent a real shockwave over to India. New Delhi just jumped in, calling it a targeted act of vandalism. They pushed hard for Pakistan to actually investigate this demolition, bri
Jul 2, 2026 by Gree News Team

Donation Theft and Investigation at Ram Temple Trust
The donation theft at the Ram Temple has really stirred things up inside the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust. It’s caused a fresh churn. A crucial meeting is set for July 6, and it’s all about the future of two big names: former general secretary Champat Rai and trustee Anil Mishra. Source
Jul 2, 2026 by Gree News Team

Contestant Drama and Public Criticism on Lock Upp 2
The air got thick in the latest episode of Lock Upp 2. It wasn’t just standard contestant drama; it was an actual flare-up, a nasty argument boiling over between Shreya Kalra and Pamala Serena. Sufi Motiwala jumped into it too, adding his own criticism to the fray. And honestly, you could feel other
Jul 2, 2026 by Gree News Team

Alex Karp's Critique of the AI Industry and Business Models
Alex Karp, CEO of Palantir, went off on a real tirade during an interview with CNBC about the state of the AI industry. He wasn't just talking business; he was launching a serious attack on rival AI companies. He accused them of running completely unsustainable models. He questioned how they handle
Jul 2, 2026 by Gree News Team

Akshaye Khanna, Siddharth Malhotra, and the Success of *Dhurandhar* and *Ikka*
When Akshaye Khanna’s *Dhurandhar* broke open, suddenly finding him a new kind of momentum, people started looking at him for something else. That led straight into Siddharth Malhotra’s *Ikka*, where he was lined up against Sunny Deol. There was this chat where the director asked Akshaye about how h
Jul 2, 2026 by Gree News Team

Japan-India Cooperation: Economic, Strategic, and Technological Ties
Sanae Takaichi landed in New Delhi on Wednesday for a three-day official trip. It was meant to be about beefing up ties between India and Japan economic stuff, strategy, technology, you know. Union Minister Jitendra Singh met her right at the airport. She had some talks lined up. Thursday, she was s
Jul 2, 2026 by Gree News Team

Ensuring Safe and Ready Homes for Electric Vehicle Charging
The push for electric vehicles is moving fast, but there’s a real snag underneath all that excitement: getting homes ready to actually charge them safely. A new study just came out hitting that point hard. They found nearly 45% of Indian homes are going to need serious electrical upgrades just to ha
Jul 1, 2026 by Gree News Team

Antonio Nusa Breaks Record as Norway's Youngest Goalscorer
Antonio Nusa just broke Steffen Iversen’s record on Tuesday. He became Norway’s youngest goalscorer at a major tournament. That’s the headline, right there. He hit twenty-one years and seventy-four days when it happened. Iversen held that mark for a while. Twenty-three years and two hundred sixteen
Jul 1, 2026 by Gree News Team

Sunita Ahuja on Infidelity and Her Marriage
Sunita Ahuja has been pretty open about things. She’s claimed her superstar husband has had multiple affairs throughout their marriage. It’s all kind of talk now. Even on Lock Upp 2, she brought up how heroes can cheat around. There isn't much you can say about that stuff, given the fandom and the s
Jul 1, 2026 by Gree News Team

Tom Holland, Messi, and the New Spider-Man Movie
World Cup fever, you know? And right in the middle of all that noise, Hollywood star Tom Holland apparently teamed up with Lionel Messi before the release of his next big thing. It wasn't just some casual meet-and-greet though. There was this special video they put out showing Messi actually searchi
Jul 1, 2026 by Gree News Team

Regulating the Coaching Industry and Entrance Exams
The Centre is looking at a national law now. Something about regulating that whole coaching industry. Why? Well, there’s this mounting stress among students suicide cases in those coaching hubs are really hitting people hard. They're also thinking about messing with entrance exams. Trying to shift t
Jul 1, 2026 by Gree News Team

The Ripple Effect of Immigration Enforcement and Court Rulings
The whole thing just keeps shifting. You see, even after losing that big Supreme Court fight about birthright citizenship the one where they shut down Trump’s push to restrict it he still managed to snag a bunch of court wins. And those wins, honestly, they look like they're setting the stage for so
Jul 1, 2026 by Gree News Team

Mexico Defeats Ecuador in Historic Match
Mexico beat Ecuador two goals. It was a huge moment. Four decades of World Cup disappointment finally over. They played at the Azteca stadium. A thunderstorm messed up the start. But when it kicked off, things got intense fast. Javier Aguirre’s team just pushed hard. Relentless attack. Flair. Mexico
Jul 1, 2026 by Gree News Team