4 min learnJun 13, 2026 11:04 AM IST
If an airline worker had waved by means of a closely pregnant girl at an airport 25 years in the past, the US may by no means have discovered its World Cup striker.
Folarin Balogun’s journey to scoring a brace for the USA at a house World Cup – within the 4-1 win over Paraguay; the primary US participant to attain a number of targets in a World Cup sport since 1930 – started with an accident of circumstance lengthy earlier than he kicked a soccer. His mom, Florence, was dwelling in London however had travelled to New York in 2001 to go to household whereas pregnant. When she tried to return to England, airline officers refused to let her board with out medical clearance. Stranded in Brooklyn, she stayed with kin and shortly gave start to a son.
Inside weeks, the household was again in London. However America had already left its mark.
Years later, as Balogun wrestled with a alternative between England, Nigeria and the US, his mom would inform him she believed there was a purpose he had been born there.
“I don’t imagine issues occurred by luck. I feel for me to have gone to America and for me to have had him there, it’s simply one thing that has actually caught with me,” Florence Balogun informed The Nation whereas reflecting on her son’s eventual determination to signify the US.
Whether or not destiny or coincidence, that twist of geography would ultimately form some of the uncommon worldwide careers in trendy soccer.
Balogun has not often taken the apparent route.
Born in Brooklyn, raised in London and the son of Nigerian dad and mom, his soccer training got here by means of Arsenal’s celebrated Hale Finish academy. He was noticed as a baby enjoying Sunday League soccer and rapidly emerged as one of many membership’s brightest attacking prospects. His senior debut hinted at a fairytale. Launched in opposition to Dundalk within the Europa League in 2020, he scored along with his very first contact for Arsenal.
But the graceful ascent by no means arrived.
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Quite than accept a peripheral function at Arsenal, Balogun sought alternatives elsewhere. A mortgage spell at Middlesbrough supplied expertise however little glamour. The actual breakthrough got here in France, the place he joined Reims and exploded into considered one of Ligue 1’s most prolific forwards, scoring 21 league targets through the 2022-23 season. Whereas many younger English-trained forwards stayed inside the consolation of the Premier League ecosystem, Balogun crossed the Channel, tailored to a brand new tradition and rebuilt his popularity.
The identical willingness to chart his personal course outlined his worldwide future.
England had nurtured him by means of youth soccer. Nigeria remained the land of his dad and mom. But it was the US that made him really feel most needed. In 2023, he dedicated to the Stars and Stripes, giving the People the scientific No. 9 they’d spent years looking for.
Wanting again on that call, Balogun himself has typically returned to an analogous theme. “I feel every thing occurs for a purpose,” he stated in an interview with U.S. Soccer after selecting to signify the US.
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Now, because the US hosts the World Cup, Balogun finds himself on the centre of the nation’s hopes. His targets within the opener underlined why he’s seen because the lacking piece US so desperately wanted.
A missed flight created an American citizen. A London upbringing created a footballer. France reworked him right into a goalscorer. And on the game’s greatest stage, all these influences got here collectively within the shirt of the US.