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Alexi Lalas And Thierry Henry Got In Tense Standoff Over Folarin Balogun And The USMNT’s Loss To Belgium

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Fox Soccer


With the United States men’s national team knocked out of the 2026 World Cup, longtime Fox Sports analyst Alexi Lalas is no longer on the road with the team and is back in the studio with Thierry Henry and Zlatan Ibrahimovic. It didn’t take long for a testy moment to bubble to the surface.

Given the seismic nature of the United States’ disappointing 4-1 loss to Belgium in the 2026 World Cup Round of 16, the analyst trio of Thierry Henry, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Alexi Lalas further broke down the result and the controversy around striker Folarin Balogun’s eligibility to play in the match.

Fox Sports World Cup analysts Thierry Henry and Alexi Lalas got in a tense standoff about Folarin Balogun’s rescinded red card controversy

Lalas and Henry got into a standoff over the ruling, with Lalas challenging Henry’s assertion that it wasn’t the “right” decision from FIFA.

“I do agree with the fact that it wasn’t a red — because if I was a player and someone gave me a red for that, I wouldn’t have accepted that. But I don’t agree with them rescinding the red,” Henry argued. “What FIFA did wasn’t right. But it was the right thing in terms of not giving a red. That should have been a decision that was done on the field, not after three days, four days — I didn’t agree with all that.”

“Why isn’t it right?” Lalas interjected “They didn’t break any…”

“Because it’s not right. Article 27 doesn’t say that. That’s my opinion. What FIFA did wasn’t right. It wasn’t a red. But what FIFA did wasn’t right and it fired up Belgium. It did. Look at how they were; the celebration, the dancing at the end,” Henry continued, citing Belgium seemingly mocking US President Trump with their celebrations after scoring their fourth and final goal.

“So Ronaldo shouldn’t have played in the World Cup either?” Lalas asked, referencing that Ronaldo received a red card (and multi-match ban) during qualifying but FIFA intervened and adjusted the suspension to allow him to play in the World Cup.

“That’s on you to talk. I’m talking about Balogin and I stay there,” Henry told Lalas.

The day before the USA-Belgium match, FIFA announced that they were suspending the one-game ban that Balogun received as a result of the red card he was issued against Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Round of 32. The governing body of international football cited Article 27 of the FIFA disciplinary code, which they said gives the organization the power to “suspend the enforcement of a previously imposed disciplinary sanction.”

The decision was made even more controversial due to subsequent reports that the White House got involved, with President Trump calling FIFA President Gianni Infantino to discuss Balogun’s red card.

As for the tense moment between Lalas and Henry on set, American soccer fans already felt that Henry and Ibrahimovic weren’t necessarily vibing with Lalas, and this moment certainly won’t do anything to dispel that narrative.