“Personally, it didn’t affect me all that much. Balogun is an important player for us and for the team. Looking back, though, something like that shouldn’t happen. A red card is a red card and it should stand. I don’t know who exerted how much influence in the situation. But when there is a suspension following a red card, you shouldn’t go back afterward, reopen the discussion and change the decision.”
— U.S. midfielder Malik Tillman, reflecting on Folarin Balogun’s lifted red-card suspension at the 2026 World Cup in an interview with the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger.
