Balogun says Trump World Cup intervention rattled the squad

Balogun on the Trump chaos

Folarin Balogun spoke plainly. The White House call that got his World Cup ban overturned before the Belgium match created "a lot of outside noise, and that's hard to avoid" (1) (2). He saw nerves spread through the squad. "The players can sense it," Balogun said, pointing to how the political storm around his suspension affected teammates before the round of 16 (3). The U.S. lost that game 0–4 to Belgium and went out.