United States boss Mauricio Pochettino has revealed he wished he’d been more involved in the process to appeal Folarin Balogun’s 2026 World Cup ban.
Balogun saw a straight red card in the round-of-32 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina for the USMNT. He was later forgiven by FIFA’s disciplinary committee who rolled over his one-match ban for a year so that he could play in the last 16 clash with Belgium.
This decision produced a lot of controversy and noise around the American camp before Belgium won 4-1.
“Perhaps I am sorry for not having entered when the situation with the Bosnia game finished and all the negative that caused,” Pochettino said.
He also expressed a desire to have taken a more active role on the appeal, as he felt the public was largely unaware of the decision.
Pochettino felt the incident changed the team’s mood and disrupted their build-up to the Belgium fixture.
“That game is extremely hard to analyze because it was designed in a place that was not the best place to go and compete in a World Cup,” he said.
The previous Chelsea and Tottenham boss also recommended that in future cases over disciplinary appeals, a committee of less members should make the decisions.
Balogun has also featured for Monaco since overcoming a slight injury.
