{"id":215805,"date":"2026-07-03T07:52:44","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T07:52:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/from-the-sports-desk-the-u-s-advances-but-loses-folarin-balogun-to-costly-red-card-nbc-news\/"},"modified":"2026-07-03T07:52:44","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T07:52:44","slug":"from-the-sports-desk-the-u-s-advances-but-loses-folarin-balogun-to-costly-red-card-nbc-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/from-the-sports-desk-the-u-s-advances-but-loses-folarin-balogun-to-costly-red-card-nbc-news\/","title":{"rendered":"From The Sports Desk: The U.S. advances, but loses Folarin Balogun to costly red card – NBC News"},"content":{"rendered":"

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After its biggest World Cup win in decades, the U.S. will have to do it all again without its top scorer after <\/em>Folarin Balogun<\/strong><\/em> received a controversial red card. Elsewhere, two European powerhouses in England and Belgium survived major scares to advance.<\/em>
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There are three more knockout games today. Follow along on <\/em>the NBC News live blog<\/em><\/a>.<\/em>
Garrincha<\/strong>. Ronaldinho<\/strong>. Zinedine Zidane<\/strong>. To that list of players to score a goal and receive a red card in a World Cup match we can now add Folarin Balogun<\/strong>.
The United States\u2019 top goal scorer at this tournament can consider himself unlucky. His sending-off yesterday after opening the scoring in an impressive, if scrappy, round-of-32 win against Bosnia-Herzegovina was arguably less forceful than Lionel Messi<\/strong>\u2019s unpunished challenge in Argentina\u2019s opening match. Balogun\u2019s dismissal caused feverish debate online.
Despite the setback, meaning the Stars and Stripes had to play the last 35 minutes in San Francisco with 10 men, the team went on to score again through a late Malik Tillman<\/strong> free kick, to make it 2-0. It\u2019s the first win in a men\u2019s World Cup knockout game since 2002 and the first against a European team in the knockouts.
The U.S. faces Belgium on Monday in Seattle and will have to reach greater heights against a team ranked ninth in the world \u2014 this time without Balogun, who must serve a one-match suspension.
But even before yesterday, the U.S. has shown it\u2019s capable of winning without key players, namely Christian Pulisic<\/strong> in the group stage. Hopes are high that the U.S. bandwagon keeps rolling. Beat Belgium and it would be only the second time in the modern era that the U.S. has reached the World Cup quarterfinals.
Elsewhere, Youri Tielemans<\/strong> was Belgium\u2019s hero in a dramatic 3-2 comeback win against Senegal, whose Isma\u00efla Sarr<\/strong> ended up scoring four goals in four appearances at this World Cup. At 124 minutes and 44 seconds, Tielemans\u2019 winner \u2014 a penalty kick \u2014 was the latest goal scored in World Cup history.
A clunky England also came from behind to defeat the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with captain Harry Kane<\/strong> scoring a brace in a 2-1 win. England next faces Mexico at Mexico City Stadium (Estadio Azteca), where the co-host boasts an undefeated record across 10 World Cup matches. The Three Lions will need to acclimate quickly to the 7,300-foot (2,200-meter) elevation at the stadium.
Only six spots remain in the round of 16 \u2014 half of those will be determined today.
Two veterans go face-to-face in Portugal\u2019s match against Croatia in Toronto. Neither has won the World Cup. Portugal\u2019s Cristiano Ronaldo<\/strong>, 41, is the country\u2019s all-time leading men\u2019s goal scorer at the World Cup. Ronaldo\u2019s onetime Real Madrid teammate Luka Modri\u0107<\/strong>, 40, of Croatia won player of the tournament at the 2018 World Cup, although his ability to hold sway over the midfield for 90 minutes is inevitably on the wane. For one of these greats, their World Cup career will come to an end.
Croatia is no longer near the top of the world rankings and isn\u2019t fancied to finish in the top three, as it did at the previous two World Cups. With the know-how of Bernardo Silva<\/strong> and Bruno Fernandes<\/strong> behind Ronaldo, Portugal is the favorite to advance, even if it had to settle for the second spot in Group K with unimpressive draws against the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Colombia.
Among the other round-of-32 games today, Spain takes on Austria in Inglewood, California. Remarkably, La Roja have failed to win a knockout round match in their last three World Cups, but expect Lamine Yamal<\/strong> and company to end that miserable run today.
Switzerland will face Algeria and its former coach, Vladimir Petkovic<\/strong>, in Vancouver. The Bosnian took Switzerland to the round of 16 at the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Now he\u2019s hoping to do the same with Algeria.
The main event of the evening then arrived, and delivered. It wasn\u2019t how Mauricio Pochettino<\/strong> pictured it, but the U.S. men\u2019s national team is off to the round of 16. Folarin Balogun<\/strong> was the story of the match, first scoring a goal<\/a> so nice, we could\u2019ve sworn we heard Andr\u00e9 3000<\/strong> yell, \u201cHow cold?\u201d with the crowd responding, \u201cIce cold!\u201d But then, he was sent off<\/a> for a harsh, but incredibly controversial challenge in the second half. Down a man, the U.S. needed someone to step up, and Malik Tillman<\/strong> did just that, burying a late free kick that sent the crowd into a frenzy<\/a>. Next up: Revenge match vs. Belgium.
Meanwhile, Thomas Tuchel<\/strong>\u2019s Three Lions got the job done, but it wasn\u2019t pretty. Thankfully, they have both the forehead and right boot of Harry Kane<\/strong>, who scored a late brace to avoid a shocking early exit at the hands of the Democratic Republic of the Congo<\/a>. A tough day for African teams, with five minutes to play, Senegal was up 2-0 over Belgium and the next round was within reach \u2014 then chaos happened. The Red Devils pushed it to extra time and scored a controversial penalty to eliminate the Lions of Teranga<\/a>.
Today, Lamine Yamal<\/strong>\u2019s Spain takes on Austria at 3 p.m. ET in Los Angeles as La Roja look to show why they\u2019re tournament favorites. Then, Cristiano Ronaldo<\/strong>\u2019s Portugal will tango with his former Real Madrid teammate Luka Modri\u0107<\/strong> and Croatia at 7 p.m. ET in Toronto. Like Rocky Balboa<\/strong> and Apollo Creed<\/strong> fighting to exhaustion, the two aging legends will look to do the same with a round-of-16 spot on the line.
For more World Cup coverage sent straight to your inbox every morning, <\/em>subscribe to the Men in Blazers newsletter<\/em><\/a>. We\u2019ll be covering every match, every goal and every joyous moment that soccer\u2019s biggest spectacle is sure to bring.<\/em>
World Cup! All the games are on Telemundo and Peacock<\/a>, and all times are Eastern:
That\u2019s it for now! We\u2019ll be back tomorrow.<\/em>
David Hickey is a platforms and social editor for NBC News.
© 2026 NBCUniversal Media, LLC<\/p>\n

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