Folarin Balogun chose the US over England. He may have created a 2026 contender

T he United States is one of fastest growing football nations in the world. Over the last 30 years we have been hoping, maybe even praying, for a savior. Every great football nation has a Ronaldo, a Neymar, a Messi. The US will never have that. Or at least we thought we wouldn’t. We’ve always had to succeed as a team rather than on the shoulders of a superstar.

But it seems that our prayers may have been answered. Whereas the US seemingly always figures out the goalkeeping position and sometimes struggles to find a left-back, this generation may be the best collective we have to win the World Cup. And I think Folarin Balogun has figured that out. That’s why he recently switched nationalities and will represent the United States, the country of his birth, even though he grew up in England and has represented them at youth level.

For those of you who won’t know who Balogun is, let me introduce you to one of the biggest emerging stars in world football. This 21-year-old product of Arsenal’s Hale End youth academy (along with the likes of Bukayo Saka) counts Thierry Henry as a mentor and has had a breakout season in France’s Ligue 1, scoring 20 league goals this season on loan at Reims. He was also born one day short of the Fourth of July. You can’t get much more American than that.

Yet Balogun had a big choice to make. England enter every competition a little differently than the US. Their expectation is always to win the whole thing – which has set them up for disappointment at virtually every World Cup since 1966. The English still believe that the World Cup is “coming home,” as if that’s where it belongs.

Yet when England fail, idiotic sections of their fanbase remind the world that they can be a vicious group. One