There is little evidence about Folarin Balogun’s political beliefs and we should resist the urge to assign some. But there is a delicious irony in his emergence as the hero of USA’s opening World Cup 2026 game. At a time when Donald Trump’s administration is actively using the tournament to flaunt its strong-arm approach to border control, flexing against fans, players, staff and even celebrated Somali referees, a Londoner of Nigerian heritage seems like the poster boy for a very different story of America.
Balogun’s parents were living in London when they took a holiday to New York in the summer of 2001. The trip proved fateful: airline attendants refused to allow his mother on the flight home after they noticed she was seven months pregnant. They were forced to stay in New York and Folarin Jerry Balogun was born in Brooklyn on 3 July.
