Piers Morgan has found his angle on Folarin Balogun’s red card, and it unsurprisingly puts Lionel Messi in the firing line.
The USMNT beat Bosnia and Herzegovina 2-0 on Wednesday to reach the World Cup round of 16, yet the night was muddied by a controversial VAR call.
Balogun scored the opener, then was sent off in the 64th minute when Brazilian referee Raphael Claus ruled he had raked his studs down Tarik Muharemovic’s ankle.
The comparison wrote itself. Back in the group stage, Messi caught Algeria’s Aissa Mandi with a studs-up challenge and stayed on the pitch without even a yellow, then went on to complete a hat-trick.
Morgan was never going to let that contrast slide.
Piers Morgan’s Cristiano Ronaldo loyalty is doing the talking again
Morgan is one of the most vocal Cristiano Ronaldo supporters in the media, and for a section of that fanbase, aiming at Messi is part of the routine. Any stick to beat the Argentine with gets picked up.
This one was handed to him. Balogun’s dismissal split opinion the moment it was given — Mauricio Pochettino called it an accident, and plenty in the American game felt their striker was punished for a challenge that looked accidental in real time.
Morgan saw only the double standard: “Same tackle. One (Balogun) gets a red card. The other gets no punishment at all. Must be nice being Lionel Messi,” he posted on X.
As Yahoo Sports reported, Morgan had already gone after Messi over the Mandi challenge back in June, so the follow-up was no surprise.
The problem is that the two incidents are not the same tackle. Watched at full speed, Balogun’s foot lands as he is falling, while Messi’s was a trailing-leg follow-through — different actions, different context.
It’s not to say Balogun’s challenge definitely should have resulted in a red, but the way Morgan cherry-picks an image that does not show the full extent of the contact shows he is making this argument in bad faith.
USA move on, Lionel Messi keeps rolling
The immediate cost is real for the hosts. Balogun is the USA’s top scorer with three goals, and a straight red carries an automatic ban, so Pochettino must plan for Belgium in the last 16 without him.
Messi, meanwhile, keeps doing what he has done all tournament — scoring, dictating games and dragging Argentina forward.
Every Messi masterclass chips away at the Ronaldo-is-the-greatest argument Morgan has built his football commentary around — and swiping at officials is starting to look like the last line of defense.
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