In association football, FIFA declares American forward Folarin Balogun eligible to face Belgium following an intervention by U.S. president Donald Trump. FIFA suspends his ban under Article 27 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code, placing it on a one-year probationary period while allowing the red card itself to stand. It became the first time since the introduction of FIFA's automatic suspension system that a World Cup red card suspension is overturned rather than served.

The development was among the significant sport stories being followed from World. Contemporary coverage attributed the principal details to BBC News on 5 July 2026.

This report belongs to The Belfast Herald's retrospective archive. It was compiled from the cited reporting and preserves the information available on the date shown; later developments are covered separately.