World Cup Suspicious Betting Alerts Include Folarin Balogun Red Card

An international sports integrity body has flagged seven instances of potential betting or integrity irregularities at the FIFA World Cup after identifying suspicious betting patterns, including one involving the sending off of USMNT forward Folarin Balogun.

Balogun was dismissed during the USMNT’s July 1 game against Bosnia and Herzegovina, meaning he would be suspended for the subsequent match against Belgium. Many considered the call harsh. The suspension was controversially lifted after intervention by US President Donald Trump.

In a summary of its findings, the Group of Copenhagen, an independent international anti-match-fixing network, noted that prediction market Polymarket opened a market asking, “Will Folarin Balogun play against Belgium?” on July 2.

Balogun was the only one of the tournament’s 15 red-carded players to become the subject of such a market. The announcement that his suspension would be lifted came three days later, on July 5.

$4.8M Spain Bet

Also under scrutiny is a $4.8 million Polymarket position on Spain failing to beat Cape Verde in the group stage. The eventual world champions’ failure to overcome the heavily unfavored tiny island nation became one of the tournament’s biggest shocks.

Also flagged were South Africa captain Themba Zwane’s 84th-minute red card in the tournament opener against Mexico and the three-and-a-half-minute VAR review that disallowed a Ferran Torres goal during Spain’s 4-0 win over Saudi Arabia.

At this stage, the Group of Copenhagen has not explained why those specific incidents were flagged. Only a summary of its findings has been released, with the full report yet to be published.

The group said all seven incidents received “yellow notices,” indicating “several different indications of irregularities.” These may include “unexplained fluctuations in odds, rumors on social media, or source information,” according to the Group of Copenhagen.

The network stressed that these indicators can also have entirely legitimate explanations and do not, by themselves, indicate that a match was manipulated – they simply warrant further investigation.

FIFA Disagrees

The Group of Copenhagen worked alongside FIFA’s Integrity Task Force but produced its own independent analysis.

FIFA’s official position is that there was no evidence of suspicious betting patterns during the World Cup, a stance it doubled down on this week in a statement to The Athletic.

“Betting‑monitoring reports and other relevant data and information provided by [FIFA Integrity] Task Force members, as well as information received through available reporting mechanisms was analyzed and shared among Task Force members in line with operational procedures,” the statement read.

“As a result, no suspicious betting activity or indications of match manipulation in connection with any fixture was identified.”