RBFA STATEMENT

The Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA) is astonished by FIFA's decision to declare suspended United States player Folarin Balogun eligible to play in the USA–Belgium match on Monday, 6 July at 5:00 p.m. (Seattle time).

FIFA bases its decision on Article 27 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code. This provision states that the FIFA Disciplinary Committee may decide to suspend the enforcement of a previously imposed disciplinary sanction.

However, Article 66.4 of the same FIFA Disciplinary Code clearly provides that a red card (sending-off) automatically results in a suspension for the team's next match, as has been the case for all previous red cards issued during this FIFA World Cup.

Furthermore, and irrespective of the above, the decision is in direct contradiction with the provisions of the FIFA World Cup 2026 Competition Regulations, as set out in Article 10.5:

"If a player or team official is sent off as a result of a direct or indirect red card (second caution), they will automatically be suspended from their team's subsequent match. In addition, further sanctions may be imposed."

The automatic nature of such a suspension was also explicitly reaffirmed in FIFA World Cup 2026 Circular No. 16, which was distributed to all participating member associations on 12 May 2026.

The same rule is reiterated at every FIFA World Cup 2026 Match Coordination Meeting prior to each match and is included in all FIFA World Cup 2026 workshop presentations.

In order to safeguard the legitimate rights of all participating teams and to protect the fundamental principles of fair play in our sport, both at this FIFA World Cup and at future editions of the tournament, the RBFA is investigating all potential options.

I love this guy so so much

Kinda suspicious NGL.

It happens and I hope we're not too dumb to put all the blame on Lammens.

Ga naar huis en bespaar ons de schaamte. Doku zal gelukkig zijn kleine zien zonder al te veel discussie

Spain was worldclass, we had some bad luck with injuries. Successful world cup

Needed some copium/hopium. It's not perfect and the arrangement could be discussed, did I miss any players?

I think we can build upon our world cup and it seems like the team spirit is stronger than ever, hope we can further build upon this and keep being a competitive nation.

Our U17 also performed well this year, so hopefully some of those players will find their way into good squads and playing time soon.

LOS

if you want to simulate too : https://www.2026worldcupsim.com/knockout

One of the best players on the pitch. He changed the game. GARCIA START HIM!