World Cup hero Folarin Balogun is everything Trump’s immigration policy wants gone, and we love him
Folarin Balogun is one of the breakout stars of this World Cup, and the United States is lucky to have him. He scored twice in a commanding 4-1 win over Paraguay, the kind of performance that turns a player into a national obsession. He is fast, ruthless in front of goal, and exactly the kind of striker the USMNT has spent years searching for.
Balogun was born in Brooklyn in 2001 after his mother traveled to New York while pregnant and was stopped from boarding her return flight because she was too far along. That moment, completely outside anyone’s control, made him an American citizen. He grew up in London, rose through the Arsenal academy, and had his choice of England, Nigeria, or the United States when it came time to commit to a senior national team.
He chose America. Not because he had to. Because he wanted to be here.
It has been one of the best decisions in recent USMNT history. Balogun has scored 11 goals in 28 appearances for his adopted country and is now delivering on soccer’s biggest stage. Christian Pulisic said it plainly after the Paraguay win, calling him lethal in front of goal. Former USMNT striker Kenny Cooper went further, calling him a proven goalscorer at the highest level and praising the confidence the entire team has in him.
Balogun has said the fans gave him the motivation to make this choice and that the only thing he wants now is to keep proving he made the right one. Two goals into the World Cup, he is doing exactly that.
This is what immigrants and the children of immigrants have always given this country. Talent, heart, and a willingness to choose America when they didn’t have to. Trump’s effort to gut birthright citizenship, now sitting in front of the Supreme Court, would strip that same right from the next Balogun before they ever got the chance to put on the jersey.
America did not lose a single thing by welcoming him. It gained a hero.