The USMNT players were headed from their hotel to practice at the University of Washington Sunday morning when they got the news on social media.
“I think a lot of us thought it was AI at first,” said U.S. defender Chris Richards.
Belgium’s French coach, Rudi Garcia, said, “I did not know that July 5 was April Fools day.”
Folarin Balogun will be allowed to play for the United States against Belgium in Monday’s World Cup match in Seattle.
On Sunday morning, FIFA set aside the one-game ban issued after he was shown a controversial red card for a foul on Bosnia & Herzegovina defender Tarik Muharemovic in Wednesday’s 2-0 win in the round of 32.
An automatic one-game suspension for the red card, it turns out, is not so automatic.
FIFA invoked Article 27 of its Disciplinary Code to place Balogun on one-year prohibition.
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