Within the span of a few days, Folarin Balogun almost missed the biggest game of the U.S. Men's World Cup.
First, FIFA ruled he couldn't play after a controversial red card.
Then FIFA reversed course, suspended the one-game ban, and made him eligible for the Round of 16.
At almost the same time, America was arguing over birthright citizenship.
Here's why those stories intersect.
Balogun was born in Brooklyn to Nigerian parents.
Under the Constitution as it has long been understood, that made him an American citizen at birth.
Years later, that citizenship allowed him to represent the United States.
And this wasn't some fringe roster player.
He's the team's leading scorer.
He has produced a goal contribution in every World Cup match he's played.
That's the high signal.
Modern American soccer doesn't draw from one neighborhood, one ethnicity, or one development path.
It draws from more of America.
Children of immigrants.
Black Americans.
European-Americans.
Dual nationals.
Players developed in U.S. academies.
Players developed overseas.
That's not just diversity as a slogan.
It's a larger talent pool.
Within days, one institution reversed a decision that would have kept Balogun off the field.
Another institution is still debating the constitutional rule that made him eligible to wear the U.S. jersey in the first place.
Whether you support changing birthright citizenship or not, Balogun's story illustrates something important:
America's soccer strength increasingly comes from drawing talent from every part of the country, and from every part of the American story.
Didn't the Supreme Court already rule regarding birthright citizenship?
The 5–4 ruling doesn’t give me much comfort. It reads like one battle in a longer-term effort to reach the same goal through a different strategy.
That’s why Balogun’s story resonated with me. At the same moment FIFA was deciding whether he could play, America was debating the constitutional principle that made him eligible to represent the United States.
Balogun was born in Brooklyn while his mother was temporarily visiting the United States before the family returned to England. Under the Constitution as it has long been understood, that made him an American citizen at birth, and years later, eligible to represent the United States.
Sometimes constitutional debates show up in places you don’t expect, including the World Cup.