FIFA has granted approval for Folarin Balogun, the Arsenal star currently on loan at Reims, to play for the U.S. Men’s National Team. The eligibility transfer from England to the United States was confirmed by soccer’s governing body on Tuesday. Balogun, who has also maintained his eligibility for the Nigerian national team, expressed his excitement on social media, stating, “Let’s make history.” Having previously represented England’s youth teams, the 21-year-old forward will now have the opportunity to compete for the U.S. senior team in the upcoming 2023 Gold Cup.
Balogun has had an impressive season, scoring 19 goals in 34 games for Reims in France’s Ligue 1. The Americans’ first match in the tournament will be against Jamaica on June 24 in Chicago.
This is huge for the USA and their World Cup aspirations. I was reading some replies to the news of Folarin and I’ve gathered it’s comparable to Tyreek Hill getting traded to the Dolphins from the Chiefs. A star offensive player leaves a good team to join a young and upcoming team hoping to be the difference. Hopefully, a guy like Christian Pulisic isn’t Tua and suffers from 45 head injuries. He plays striker, so that means points. At the end of the day, the whole point of soccer is to score more points than the other team.
I am fired up about this. I watched the last World Cup and saw our boys in Red, White, and Blue win the draw against England. In addition, the next World Cup is on home soil so there will be some buzz around the whole event. Buy stock in Team USA right now because I am personally guaranteeing a World Cup victory in 2026.
