Who Replaces Folarin Balogun Against Belgium? Now Comes Pochettino’s Biggest Selection Call

The United States men’s national team will face Belgium in the round of 16 at World Cup 2026 without Folarin Balogun — their star forward, leading scorer and the player around whom most of their best attacking moments have been built.

Balogun received a red card in the win over Bosnia and Herzegovina after VAR confirmed he had stamped on the ankle of Bosnia’s Tarik Muharemović while challenging for the ball. He had already given the United States a decisive lead before the dismissal and finished the tournament’s group stage and round of 32 as his nation’s most influential attacker.

His finishing, movement, hold-up play and physicality will all be missed. The question facing Mauricio Pochettino and his staff this week is how to reconfigure an attack that has been shaped around Balogun since the opening game against Paraguay.

“We’ll have different options, we’ll see which decision we’ll take,” Pochettino said in the immediate aftermath of the Bosnia win — non-committal, as expected, but the range of those options is worth examining in full.

What the USMNT Lose Without Balogun

Before assessing the replacements, it is worth quantifying what Balogun brought to this team that will not be automatically replicated by whoever starts against Belgium.

Balogun’s World Cup 2026 Contributions

His xG overperformance — converting two group-stage goals from chances worth only 0.69 xG — reflected the specific quality of his finishing. These were not tap-ins. They required technical precision and composure that cannot simply be assumed from whoever replaces him.

Balogun also brought physicality in the pressing game and hold-up play that gave the United States’ midfield runners time to arrive. McKennie’s line-breaking passes and Pulisic’s combinations with the striker were built partly around Balogun’s ability to hold and link. A direct replacement who does not offer those qualities will shift the entire structure of how the USA attacks.

Option One: Ricardo Pepi (Most Likely)

A start for Pepi is the most expected solution and probably the most likely one Pochettino will choose. He is not a like-for-like replacement — the two players have meaningfully different strengths — but the change is seamless within the system.

Pepi has already demonstrated his ability to step in when needed. When Christian Pulisic was injured ahead of the Australia match in the group stage, Pepi started in his place and retained the starting position for the final group game against Turkey when most of the lineup was rotated. Against Bosnia, he was among the first substitutes Pochettino turned to from the bench.

Ricardo Pepi — Key Statistics

The concern around Pepi is form for the national team specifically. His club record at PSV in the Eredivisie is excellent — 19 goals across the season — but he has not scored in his last eight appearances for the United States, with his most recent international goal coming against Jamaica in 2024.

Whether that drought reflects a structural issue with how he fits Pochettino’s system or simply a run of quiet games that will end is the question Pochettino must answer before naming his lineup. Pepi is a physical presence who can hold up play and press defenders, and his movement in behind has improved across his time in Holland. The timing of a World Cup round of 16 would be an ideal moment for the drought to end.

Option Two: Haji Wright

The other natural option at centre-forward is Haji Wright, who has been behind Pepi in the pecking order but may now be due an opportunity for extended minutes.

Wright is 28 and played a significant role in Coventry City’s Championship title win this season, contributing 17 goals in 40 appearances. He has also demonstrated he can deliver on the international stage — most memorably scoring a goal off the bench against the Netherlands in the 2022 World Cup round of 16. He scored a brace for the USA against Australia in autumn 2024.

Haji Wright — Key Statistics

The limitation of the Wright option is how little he has played in 2026. He has appeared for just one minute across eight international matches this year, missing the March window through injury. His competitive sharpness in a high-intensity round-of-16 knockout game is a legitimate question.

Like Pepi, Wright differs from Balogun in his specific qualities — he offers a physical presence and good movement without the same finishing instinct Balogun brings — but he would slot into the same structural position without requiring Pochettino to reshape the team.

The key argument for Wright over Pepi: he scored a goal in the round of 16 of the previous World Cup from the bench. That composure in a knockout stage matters, and it is not something Pepi has yet replicated at international level.

Option Three: Christian Pulisic Through the Centre

If Pochettino is not convinced by either natural forward as a starter, a more creative solution exists: playing Pulisic through the centre and distributing the attacking roles across a wider group of players.

This has precedent. Pulisic started as the centre-forward for the United States against Portugal in March and showed enough in that role to make it a viable tactical option rather than a desperate measure.

The Pulisic-as-9 Lineup Implications

The appeal of this option is its flexibility. With Pulisic as the nominal forward, Pochettino can deploy a more fluid four-man attacking unit that rotates positions. Gio Reyna, Tim Weah, Brenden Aaronson and Alejandro Zendejas all become viable in wide attacking roles in a way they are not when Pulisic occupies one of those positions.

The trade-off is that the United States lose the physical presence and pure centre-forward threat that Balogun provided. Pulisic’s strength is in linking, arriving late and creating — not in the hold-up play or the aerial contests that a traditional striker contributes.

Against Belgium, who are a physically imposing side with a well-organised back four, having no natural presence at the top of the attack could allow the Belgian defence to concentrate attention in compact areas rather than accounting for a runner pushing their line.

Option Four: Other Attack Players

Gio Reyna

Reyna has featured in all four of the United States’ World Cup games, three of them as a substitute. His trivela goal in the opening match against Paraguay was one of the tournament’s most creative moments and a reminder of why his technical quality makes him a genuine contributor at this level. His pedigree — despite injury interruptions across his club career — makes him a credible option for a stage of this magnitude.

Tim Weah

Weah and Aaronson both started against Turkey in the final group game rotation but neither made a significant mark. Weah began his career as a forward with PSG and played through the centre regularly during a loan spell at Celtic. The option of deploying him in a number nine role — similar to the Pulisic option — has logic to it, particularly if Pochettino wants a more physically direct wide option elsewhere and a player comfortable receiving the ball in tight spaces.

Brenden Aaronson and Alejandro Zendejas

Both started against Turkey without particularly distinguishing themselves. Zendejas came off the bench in that match but had limited opportunity to impress. They remain valid depth options but would represent a significant step down in the attacking quality hierarchy if either is asked to carry the primary goalscoring burden against Belgium.

The Bold Option: 3-5-2 With Pepi and Wright Together

There is one final possibility — low probability but worth considering — that would represent Pochettino’s most tactically adventurous response to losing Balogun.

A 3-5-2 formation that pairs Pepi and Wright as a two-striker combination would fundamentally alter the United States’ structure. It would mean sacrificing a wide midfielder in favour of an additional central defender and introducing genuine physicality in the final third from two different angles.

3-5-2 Option — Pros and Cons

The pair briefly played together in the group-stage match against Australia, where they shared the pitch for 74 minutes and the United States scored twice — though neither Pepi nor Wright scored themselves in that period. The combination demonstrated some pressing effectiveness without producing a direct goalscoring partnership.

For Pochettino to deploy the 3-5-2 against Belgium would be a bold tactical statement — and one that acknowledged both the importance of the match and the absence of Balogun as a direct solution. It is the kind of decision that coaches tend to reserve for moments of genuine tactical necessity rather than experimentation.

Balogun’s absence changes the attacking calculation significantly. The United States’ most efficient finisher at this World Cup — the player whose three goals came from chances that required genuine quality to convert — will be watching from the stands as his teammates face one of the most organised and experienced sides in the tournament.

USA’s Striker Options — Comparative Summary

Pepi is the most likely starter and the safest choice within the existing system. Wright offers an interesting alternative and the specific credential of having delivered in a World Cup knockout stage. Pulisic through the centre creates the most flexibility but sacrifices physical presence at the top.

Whatever Pochettino decides, the United States will face Belgium asking their attack to produce without the player who has defined it. The rest of the squad — McKennie, Pulisic, Reyna — have the quality to compensate collectively. Whether they do so will determine whether America’s World Cup continues or comes to an end on Monday.

Read More: Folarin Balogun Had Every Reason to Be Angry, What Followed Revealed His Character
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