Balogun calls on the leaders of the US national team to take responsibility for the 2026 World Cup playoffs

Forward Folarin Balogun of the USA national team became the main voice of the locker room of the American team on the eve of the start of the playoff round of the World Cup. After convincingly winning Group D, the U.S. faces Bosnia and Herzegovina in the round of 16 on Wednesday in Santa Clara, California. Balogun, who has already scored two goals in the tournament and forced an opponent to cut the ball into his own goal in the game against Australia, frankly told reporters before Sunday's training that with the start of the relegation games, the atmosphere around the team has become completely different. "I feel the difference even in the atmosphere. It's knockout football, so if you lose, you go home. So there's been a change in thinking and mentality for me as well. Not that I didn't take it seriously before, but now you can just shift into another gear because you want it more. I don't want our journey to end," the forward admitted. Balogun emphasized that he would consider the USA's performance a failure if the team was eliminated already on Wednesday. In his opinion, it is the turn of those who should lead the team in critical moments. "The decisive time has come. This is the stage when, in my opinion, the big players have to take responsibility," the striker stated without appeal. Balogun's words sound especially relevant against the background of the historical statistics of the USA national team, which the current generation will have to break: the Americans have won only one playoff match at the World Cup in the entire history (2-0 against Mexico in the distant 2002). The team has a 13-match unbeaten streak at the World Cup against European national teams (the last victory against the Europeans was also in 2002 against Portugal). However, Balogun urges partners not to think about the past at all: "From my personal experience, the best way to turn history around is not to think about what hasn't been done, but just think about what needs to be done to progress," Folarin summarized.